Well done to Dave Scaramanga who has won the 2017 Colin Gundersen Award! Dave had a narrow lead 2.4 point lead over Tyrone Luffarelli (who won the award in 2016) going into the last 2 races at Pembrey, on the new circuit. Both Dave, who races a VW Sirocco in Class CT & Tyrone who races a Peugeot in Class BT, each set a new Class Lap Record in Race one, with Dave making 4 points, as his time was that much better. Crucially however Daves’ fastest lap in race 2 was 99.5% of the new Class CT record, while Tyrones’ Fastest lap was only 97.17% of the new Class BT record, making Dave another 2 points better off, and securing the trophy for him by 8.9 points! Fabio Luffarelli (Tyrones’ dad) was 3rd, only 1 point behind his son, and Richard Francis was 4th only 3.5 points behind Fabio! (n.b all the Class Fastest Laps are taken from the TSL timing website.)

Hi re the 2017 Colin Gundersen Trophy – points after 8 rounds at Pembrey. Dave Scaramanga still holds a narrow lead after 6 rounds from Tyrone Luffarelli with his Dad Fabio in 3rd place, with Richard Francis a close 4th. With the last 2 races held on the ‘New’ Circuit Layout, the established the Class Lap Records gave us a benchmark for the July 23rd races. The Final scoring rounds at Pembrey are on Sunday October 15th

Hi please see the attached Class lap records for the WSSCC races at Pembery. I have sourced them from the ‘official results’ on the TSL website and converted them, so I can use them in the ‘Colin Gundersen’ trophy calculations. So 1.12.345 = 72.345.

Also I can confirm that for the Blake Edwards trophy for race wins, Jason Davies has 7 wins, Chris Everill has 3, Bradley John has one, as does Steve Hall (Guest at Oulton Park). So Jason retains the Blake Edwards trophy. Regards Robert

A massive 32 car grid assembled for the final 2 races in the 2017 Championship. In contrast to the torrential rain showers that plagued our visit to Oulton Park, the weekend was overcast but dry & warm, if a little windy. Although there are many stories to tell (which I will update later in the week) I hope you will understand if I start with the front runners, as there is a dramatic end to the 2017, but rather than build up the suspense, like Agatha Christine, I’ll get to the main point asap.

Martin Davis poses with his car just before race 1! It looks nice there! (Photo by Rob Allender)

Anyway due to other races dropping out, the day started with a Practice session, and then Qualifying, after the Clerk of the Course briefing and a brief feedback meeting. Topping the Qualifying was one of the Class I entries, Reuben Taylor and his Peugeot 206 cc silhouette (Reuben was with us at Oulton Park)just ahead of Damian Longotano, who was having his best starting position in a long time. Chris Everill and Keith White were on row 2 with Martin Davies 5th and Nick Crompton 6th. On row 4 was Ken James and Andy Williams. On row 5 was Glynne Jones and Mark Williams who was an excellent 10th in his new Honda Civic 1600! Fabio Luffarelli was at the back of the grid, after an electric fault with his ‘Flat Shifter’ cut his engine, before he set a time. Fortunately it was easily fixed!( I will do the rest of the grid later).

However in the Truck race, just before the lunch break, a Truck turned left at full speed, and tried to enter the main paddock instead of paddock 2! It was a hard hit, and after extracting the truck from the barrier, the marshals worked hard to repair the barriers to allow racing to re-start! However it took a long while to do the repairs, and that had a knock-on effect on the programme, with both our races cut from 15 minutes plus 1 lap, to 12 minutes and a lap.

Race one – 12 minutes and a lap – rolling start!

The grid set off on the green flag lap, with Tyrone keeping his dad company! At the start Reuben Taylor went into the lead, with Chris Everill and all, pushing him hard! The pack exited Debini in a bunch, but Nick Crompton seemed to be taking the wide line, al la Alvin Powell! Like Alvin before him, Nick found out the wide line doesn’t work, and he got onto the grass. However luckily Nick was able to slow the Evo and nudged the tyre wall side on. After a moment he was able drive away with only some minor body damage, but another grassy moment half way through, tore his turbo pipe off, making Nick the only non-finisher. Back at the front the battle for the lead had boiled down to Chris Everill, who was now in front, defending his lead from Reuben Taylor with Martin Davies attacking Reuben for 2nd place! Although on one lap Reuben had a real ‘tank slapper’ out of Dibeni, Martin was unable to take advantage. However it was close at the end, with only 0.8 seconds covering all 3 cars at the end! This was the closest battle for the lead I have ever seen at Pembrey!

Race two – 12 minutes and a lap – rolling start! Damian got a rocket start and lead into Hatchets, however he seemed to go wide, which let the charging pack to get past! At the end of lap 1 it was a 4 way fight for the lead with Chris Everill holding a narrow lead from Keith White, Reuben Taylor and Martin Davies all in a tight bunch, followed by Ken James, Fabio and Damian! The battle for the lead intensified, with Reuben passing Keith to run 2nd behind Chris. Martin was not to be left out and on lap 7 he passed Keith or 3rd place, and then started to chase Rueben! On lap 9 Martin passed Reuben for 2nd place, and was maybe fancying a run at Chris, when it all went wrong! Coming up to Honda curve at the end of lap 9, Martin found himself a passenger, as one of his cars’ wheel & hub broke away and bounced high in the air! It was a heavy impact, with the commentator confirming the car had ‘Barrel rolled’. The red flag went out immediately! Now although Honda, the fastest corner on the circuit, is probably the worst place to have an accident, it also maybe the best, as the Pembrey rescue machine swung into action! Marshals were on the scene straight away, quickly followed by the Rescue truck, the Medical team and an Ambulance, all of whom where close at hand in their normal places in the pit lane! All the family & friends who had been watching at the Dibeni end, quickly moved to the Honda curve end. Sue and Mikaela, Martins wife and Daughter, supported each other, as we all waited to see if Martin was alright! After what seemed an age, but was probably only a minute or so, in which there was time to consider that this was the reason behind the MSA rules on Roll-cage strength, time limits on the life of Seat and Belts, and helmet & hans regulations, and what a good job the MSA are doing to try and protect the life of our friends and loved ones, Martin emerged and was able to walk un-aided to the waiting ambulance! This was a massive relief to everyone! Jason himself was watching from the pits, so was fully aware of the situation, and as they took Martin to hospital for checks and scans, just to be on the safe side, he was able to find the missing wheel and hub deep in the bushes on the outside of the circuit to confirm it was a failure of the drive flange which caused the wheel to detach! Later with an ok from the doctors, Martin was allowed home! Jason confirmed his special thank you to everybody that helped us pack away all the pit gear, and ‘especially Damian Longotano for driving the Van and trailer home for us’

Having already run through the top bunch, the rest of the 32 car grid, was broken into large lumps. 10th was guest driver Mark Harries and his Honda Civic. 11th and on the Class CT pole was Dave Scaramanga who pedalled his VW around in a time of 1.12.364, ahead of a 5 cars in the 1.14 secs bracket, Alex Kite, Tyrone, Peter Hills, new boy Andy Wilkins and Tyrones’ sister Melissa Luffarelli, who was an excellent 16th! 17th and at the head of another 6 cars in the same bracket was Daryl Radford and his Honda (1.15.079) ahead of Darren Hockely and his Honda, the Mazda of Simon Hutchings, the Saxo of Richard Francis and the Mini of Peter Harries (tended by Endaf Owens) and Nick Rocke and his Ford Fiesta who was 22nd!

Heading the last batch of drivers in the 1.17120 to 1.9.549 bracket was Colin Dunn (1.17120), Ellis Wiggins, Gareth Haycock, Mat Harries, and Andrew Williams who was 27th and was the last driver to get under 1.20 secs.

From 28 to 32 we had Darren Osborn, Mark Williams, Alan Smith, Verity Banks and 32nd and last was Fabio Luffarelli, who failed to set a time after his flat shift problem!

Race one – 12 minutes and a lap – rolling start!

The grid set off on the green flag lap, with Tyrone keeping his dad company! Remarkably all 32 cars made it, with none missing! Alex Kite got up to 9th on the first lap with a fast starting Richard Francis rising from 20th to 10th and having to take action to avoid a spinning Andy Williams, as the big purple Sapphire had a 360 spin on the rundown to Brooklands! Andy got going again in14th Place! Richard soon had Dave Scaramanga on his tail, and looking for his place back, after Richard had passed him going into Carter, (if that’s what the new left/right flick is called) Fabio was rising quickly to eventually finish 6th! So we now had Alex Kite in 9th , followed by Dave S & our old friend Peter Hills. There was a big bunch consisting of Andy Wilkins, Richard Francis, Daryl Radford, Andy Williams, and Tyrone Luffarelli! Melissa has next up followed by Nick Rocke and Colin Dunn who are locked in a Class BT battle!

There was then another bunch headed by Darren Hockley, Mat Harries, Mark Williams, Simon Hutchings, Peter Harries and Gareth Haycock. The final bunch was headed by Andrew Williams, Ellis Wiggins, and Darren Osborn. Darren had brought his own fan club, complete with banner, to inspire him! It’s what the Championship is all about, the drivers have fun on the track, and their families should join in the fun too, and brighten up the paddock too! I thought it was great! Alan Smith & Verity Banks completed the grid.

Now I know there is some people who prefer the ‘Classic’ circuit, but it can’t be denied that the new corners add to the racing in the mid-field, with 10 cars on the leaders lap! The drivers from 10 to 28, where only lapped once, and only the last 3 finishers were lapped twice!

At the flag Mark Harries was 9th. Dave S was 10th and was the last car on the lead lap . In 11th was Alex Kite, Andy Wilkins, who had the Ford of Andy Williams right on his tail. Tyrone Luffarelli and in 15th Melissa Luffarelli, narrowly ahead of Peter Hill!

17th was Daryl Radford, followed by Richard Francis, Colin Dunn and in 20th was Nick Rocke with Darren Hockley, Simon Hutchings and Peter Harries in a tight bunch! Mat Harries was 24th with Ellis Wiggins only .073 behind! Mark Williams was 26th, Gareth Haycock 27th and in 28th place Andrew Williams was the last runner to do 11 laps!

On Ten laps were Darren Osborne, Alan Smith and Verity Banks! Remarkably there was a 100% reliability record, with only Nick Crompton missing with some fixable body damage.

Race Two – 12 minutes and a lap – rolling start!

The full 32 cars started the 2nd race, which was itself an historic moment! Only Nick Crompton was out of place, as he had to start from the back of the grid, but soon pulled up to 7th place! Mark Harris was 8th in his Endaf Owens fettled Honda Civic! This is sure to be an awesome car, and let’s hope we see more of Mark in 2018! Andy Williams pulled up from a 14th place start, to 8th, after some entertaining side-ways driving! Glynne Jones had started from 7th but having with a lack of grip from his tyres, was unable to resist Nick, Mark & Andy! A fast starting Tyrone was initially 7th but he and Mark Harris soon swapped places. When things had settled down Tyrone, (the 2017 champion elect), was chased by Andy Wilkins, Dave Scaramanga, & Alex Kite! Peter Hills & Melissa were in thier own Mini Libre race! Daryl Radford, Richard Francis and Nick Rocke were in a tight bunch, ahead of the next gaggle, of Peter Harris, Simon Hutchings and Colin Dunn! Darren Hockley initialled headed a fast starting Gareth Haycock, Mat Harries, Ellis Wiggins and Mark Williams. Andrew Williams & Darren Osborn, and Alan Smith and Verity Bank completed the runners.

As the race neared the 10 minute mark (8 laps) the red flag came out as per the first section of the race report. This put an end to some excellent racing by the huge grid. Tyrone finished 10th and was chased by Andy Wilkins, Dave Scaramanga, & Alex Kite! Melissa passed Peter Hills to win their own Mini Libre race! (Melissa’s dad Fabio stopped on lap 5, so she won Class M) Daryl Radford was 16th with Richard Francis and Nick Rocke in a tight bunch, ahead of the next gaggle, Simon Hutchings had got the better of Peter Harris, and Darren Hockley had passed Colin Dunn! Mat Harries has worked his way up to 23rd , but had Ellis Wiggins and Gareth Haycock for close company, after Ellis had passed Gareth . Mark Williams, Andrew William, Darren Osborn, Alan Smith and Verity Bank completed the runners! Alan Smith was voted ‘Driver of the Race’ by the marshals. It would be great if we could get this kind of entry and racing all the time!

In the final round in the 2017 British GT Championship WRDA member, Seb Morris & his team-mate Rick Parfitt Jnr came to Donington with a 10.5 points lead and were looking to qualify their Team Parker Racing run Bentley Continental GT3 as far up the grid as they could on a track that does not suit their car, as much as some other tracks! With the grid positions decided by combining the qualifying times of each of the drivers, Rick Parfitt was able to hurl the mighty Bentley around fast enough to take 2nd place in the AM (Amateur) session.

Rick was part of an Aston Martin sandwich, as he was only 0.0118 secs! behind the pole winner Mark Framer, and ahead of Dereck Johnston and well ahead of their main rivals Alan Minshaw in the Barwell Racing run Lamborghini Hurrican, who was 5th. However Seb did not fair so well in the Pro session and was only 7th fastest! In the event the final outcome is that Rick & Seb combined times was only fast enough for 4th place on the grid, alongside their main rival for the championship, Minshaw and Keen (3rd)! The Aston Martins of Farmer & Barnes and Moore & Nicoll-Jones were 1st and 2nd ! The pace of the Aston Martins was of interest to Seb & Rick, for if Minshaw and Keen did not win, then Seb & Rick would have only to shadow them, to win the championship!

The other Team Parker Racing Bentley driven by Ian Loggie & Callum MacLeod would start in 7th place. The team manager of the Loggie & MacLeod car is Welsh legend Jools Westwood, and he gave realistic assessment of likely outcome of the early part of the race. ‘We know that Alan Minshaw struggles in the longer races, and Ian goes well on tracks he likes, so hopefully we can put some pressure on Minshaw as the races goes on, and help Seb & Rick that way!’

Apart from the important business of the British GT championship, Rick Parfitt Jnr is the front runner in Sunoco 240 Challenge, which Seb Morris won last year. The prize is a fully funded seat in GT4 race car in the 4 hour race supporting the Daytona 24hr race!

Just before the race started Seb received a boost with some celebrity endorsements.

When the race started it was win or bust for Minshaw & Keen, and so it proved, as Minshaw got up to 2nd place at the start, but then spun his chances away, eventually restarting following a trip though the gravel, in 10th place! Meanwhile Rick Parfitt Jnr was in a solid championship winning 4th place, but as Minshaw recovered from his indiscretion, Rick moved into 3rd place! However pulses began to race with the news that Rick & one of the other cars were to be investigated for a ‘Yellow Flag’ infringement! Within 5 minutes, relief replaced concern, with the news that ‘No further action was to be taken’ At the end of his stint Rick was exhausted and collapsed

Down but not out! Rick shows how much he gave to put the car in a winning position!

to his knees! A little later, the sight of a camera & microphone was enough to help revive him! ‘It was the most difficult stint I have ever done. It was so hot in the car! We knew we didn’t need to overtake the Astons so I was trying to drive within myself and I had to fight through pin & needles in my legs! He also confirmed that he had used the ‘Yellow Flag incident to his advantage. ‘I was behind Liam Griffin in the other Barwell Lamborghini, when we went into the Yellow Flag zone, but I saw the Green Flag was coming up, so I closed up and jumped him as we passed the Green Flag!’

After some sage words from his long-time mentor Andy Meyrick, (who is soon to be an MSA Level 4 Certified Coach) and after serving out the extra 20 seconds ‘win penalty’ Seb re-joined the race in 7th place but was soon up to speed and was up to 4th place, which, with only about 35 minutes to go, was exactly where he needed to win the title, as Phil Keen was only 3rd , with 2 Aston Martins looking the favourites to win! Indeed it was strange not to see Seb ‘Going for it’ , as I sure he could have closed on Phil Keen, and maybe overtaken him, if he had needed to! But a cool head was needed, and so it happened that Seb brought the Bentley home, safe in 4th place to win the title! Seb and Rick attended a reception at the Team Parker Hospitality Tent to a rapturous cheers and applause! Late in the day came the shock news that Seb & Rick had been elevated to 3rd place in the race, as Minshaw and Keen had not only been disqualified, but had also been excluded from the race, as John Minshaw had passed a car under Yellow Flags! Minshaw also had 4 points added to his licence! This elevated Seb & Rick to 200 points, to win the championship by 33 points! It will also do Ricks chances in the Sunoco 240 Challenge, no harm at all! Also Rick has now become the only driver to win both the British GT3 title i.e now in 2017 and British GT4 title in 2013!

Mon Amigo – Mate!

Seb confirmed ‘I’m happy that Rick and I get on so well! We must do something together in 2018 if we can! At the moment it feels unbelievable and very emotional. I’ve got to say a huge thank you to Team Parker and M Sport who have done an incredible job alongside Bentley this year, we’ve really put all the links in the chain together. Rick has done an amazing job, he hasn’t made a mistake all year, and I haven’t done a bad job myself! We all deserve this, everyone has worked so hard. It was an interesting race, that’s for sure, but in the end we did what we needed to do. I really want to say thank you to my family and all of my sponsors, Ast Transport Branding, Eddie Stobart, Saxon Air and, in particular, Sue Harris of Legat Owen who was my first ever sponsor and has supported me ever since. This title is for all of them.” Rick had also given his sponsors a name check earlier! Seb is a BRDC ‘Rising Star’ whose Star has well and truly risen! Report by Marion & Robert Allender

WRDA member Ben Hingeley, from Abergele, finished the 2017 BRDC F3 championship in 3rd place after adding to the 3 wins he had already this season in his Fortec run car, on Saturday and picking up some vital points in the final 2 races on Sunday!

In race 1 of the weekends 3 races, Ben started from pole, with the 2017 Champion, Enaam Ahmed, in 2nd place. At the start Ahmed got a good start and challenged for the lead at Redgate, the first corner. Ben was un-phased and held his nerve to establish himself in the lead, and although he and Ahmed were never far apart, Ben was always just ‘out of reach’! After taking the chequered flag in 2nd place Ahmed was generous enough to stop by Bens parent and confirm, ‘Ben drove well, he deserved to win’

Apart from normal F3 Trophy, Ben was also presented with the Muriel Tomlinson Trophy by the Donington Park Racing Association Club. (The Muriel Tomlinson Trophy commemorates her role as Chairman of the Donington Park Racing Association Club and marks her 25 years of involvement with the club) and he confirmed “I felt really good through the first sector, I felt like I pulled away a little bit but in the middle sector he was always putting me under a lot of pressure. It basically yo-yoed throughout the lap each time and it was a lot of pressure throughout the whole race, well done to him. He was right with me and put me under a lot of pressure through the last sector and luckily the chequered flag was there and it was a great race. Thanks to the Fortec lads, it was a great job by them, qualifying was mega’ With 4 races wins, Ben has more wins than anyone else, except the Champion Enaam Ahmed!

Ben with his Mum & Dad after race 1!

However under championship rules, the grid from race 2 is the reverse order from the race 1 result. This meant that Ben would start race 2 in 8th place! He moved up to 7th and was elevated to 5th late on, when the long time leader was taken out! In some kind of justice, his assailant damaged his own car and was out as well! In Race 3 he finished in 4th place and the points gained were enough to give Ben 3rd place in the Final Points standings! An excellent result for Ben who has done the difficult task of being a tough racer and yet staying a super person

(The Last day to book rooms is :-23/10/17):N.B Saturday18th November,is a Rugby date, so after 23rd October any unsold rooms will be released back for general sale. Rooms required after this date will be both subject to availability and rate.

After the meal we will make the Awards (& Raffle) and then for you movers and groovers there will be a DJ. If that’s not your scene, there is a spacious quiet area just outside the room.

There is also a bar just outside the room, and a bar price menu for reference, Amstel is £3.90 per pint, Brains Smooth is £4.10 per pint. Prosecco is £4.75 per glass. Bombay gin is £3.55 Mixers £2 .05 Bottles of White, Red & Rose wines are from £20.00. (There are Alcohol Free drinks too)

If you or any of your party, have any dietary requirements (i.e Vegetarian, Gluten Free or Lactose Intolerance) or are concerned about food allergies, please let us know when booking

Oulton Park – Saturday 9th September 2017

Entry There were several major items that were at work when the Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship made it’s first visit to Oulton Park for many years, for the penultimate races in the 2017 series! The series format of One practice and 2 races in a day proved very popular with a welcome number of guests in the Invitation Class , which when added to a good number of regulars plus a notable returnee, made a good grid for 2 races on full 2.69 mile ‘International’ circuit! It all added up to 29 entries, although at one stage we looked like we might break into the 30s, but for a few notable absences! Ken James rang to say he was waiting for some special brake parts! He was promised that they would be with him by 9 pm on Friday! If they arrived, he would be with us! Sadly Ken was absent. Glynne Jones also didn’t make it! Joining Jason Davies in Class CS were, Andy Williams, and Nick Crompton. However Phil Morris from Macclesfield also registered for points, making it 4 starters in Class CS. Phil, who was a nice guy, was disabled, having a prosthetic lower left leg, and a withered lower right arm, but made light of it all, and put in a respectable time in his specially adapted, and immaculate Golf GTi, to take 5th place on the grid! Ellis Wiggins, however was in the paddock, but after doing his half-shaft during Friday practice, he was absent from the grid! This left Darren Hockley and Daryl Radford as the only starters in Class BS. Mark Williams made an extra effort to get out with us, turning out in a VW Polo, to join Gareth Haycock and Dave Scaramanga in Class CT. There was a good turn-out in Class BT with 5 regulars. Joining Tyrone were Colin Dunn, Nick Rocke, Andrew Williams & Verity Banks. In Class D Chris Everill was joined by Keith White, who was making a welcome one-off return. Alan Smith & Fabio & Melissa completed the entries.

Practice – However it was the weather, or torrential rain showers, that dominated the day. By 8.30 the paddock was swimming, with large lakes almost everywhere! Sure the rain eased back a little from time to time, but although there were several other practice sessions, before the WSSCC session started, the track was very wet! If there is one person who revels in these type of conditions its Jason Davies, and he planted his Ford Sierra on Pole with a time of 2mins 01.759 secs, almost 3 seconds faster than guest driver, Dave Harvey in the Locosaki, who was 2nd fastest! Dave is an Oulton Park specialist! Nick Crompton was 3rd with Keith White 4th and was Phil Morris was 5th and was the last driver to be less than 10 seconds slower than Jason! Steve Hall (Class I Audi TT) was 6th ahead of Chris Everill, and Fabio who were 7th & 8th . 9th was Grant Woodhatch (Class I VW Corrado)who donated some wonderful trophies for the Class I driver! Thanks Grant! 10th was Reuben Taylor (Class I Peugeot 206 cc) Andy Williams was 11th in his Ford Sierra. In 12th to 15th were the Class I cars of Simon Sheirdan, Alex Kite, Ben Griffiths and Clive Dix. In 16th place, Darren Hockley put his new Honda Civic on the Class BS pole! 17th was Danny Carrol (Class I Caterham). In 18th our friend, now in the North, Colin Dunn, took the Class BT pole! Dave Scaramanga was 19th and as Class CT pole man was between Colin and his Class BT sparring partner Tyrone Luffarelli who was 20th! The lovely MK1 Escort of Class I driver Greg Barlow was 21st ahead of the Class BT Ford Fiesta of Nick Rocke. In 23rd place was the Class BS Honda Civic of Daryl Radford. Alan Smith was 24th, Gareth Haycock was 25th. Mark Williams was in 26th place. The Class BT cars of Andrew Williams & Verity Banks were 27th and 28th, while Melissa Luffarelli was 29th and last.

Race 1 – 15 minutes + 1 lap. By the afternoon the weather had changed to short Sunny Intervals, between heavy rain showers! As the grid left the assembly area behind the pace car, the track was wet, if not streaming wet! As they reached the end of green flag, it was all go as the starting light went out, and Jason lead into Old Hall corner. However before the leaders reached the end of the first lap, the red flag came out! Unfortunately, Phil Morris had lost it and hit the barrier, his Golf GTi looking less than immaculate when it arrived back in the paddock!

Race 1 -restart – Jason leads at Old Hall

Race 1– restart – 7 laps. It was take 2, as Jason lead into Old Hall and he was never headed until the chequered flag after 7 laps, 9.91 seconds ahead of Dave Harvey! Steven Halls Audi TT Was 3rd. Keith White was initially 4th but he pulled off after 4 laps to save his wet tyres, as the track was drying! This left Chris Everill to duel with Fabio Luffarelli. Reuben Taylor was 6th with Grant Woodhatch in 7th. Nick Crompton was 8th, Danny Carroll was 9th, Andy Williams was 10th ahead of the duelling Class I Hondas of Simon Sheridan and Ben Griffiths. As the race wore on, gaps began to appear with only a few duels going on. Once again the midfield was where the action was.

Tyrone Luffarelli was 13th, and had passed Colin Dunn to take Class BT. Colin said it wasn’t wet enough for him! However Dave Scaramanga was again sandwiched by BT cars as per Quali, but this time it was in reverse, but at least he kept Tyrone honest! Colin finished 15th and was the last un-lapped runner. Clive Dix (Class I Ford Puma)was 16th Greg Barlows Mk 1 Escort was 17th but he had Darren Hockley for close company as he began a long chase of Gregs Mk 1 Escort. Darren was the first Class BS finisher and he was closely followed the Class I Golf of Alex Kite. Daryl Radford was 20th, Nick Rocke was 21st Gareth Haycock was 22nd with Andrew Williams 23rd. Melissa was 24th after a race long duel with Mark Williams. Melissa passed Mark late on but then Mark chased Melissa to the line! Alan Smith was 26th with Verity Banks 27th and the final finisher. Initially Verity held off Melissa, at least until lap 2! Melissa eventually pulled up to finish 24th but she had Mark Williams for close company at the end!

However even as Jason celebrated his fine win and a maximum Class points too, the title race had taken a potentially decisive turn, after Phil Morris ‘ car damaging accident had reduced the Class CS entries for race two to 3!

Race 2 -Dave Harvey leads into Old Hall

Race 2 – 15 minutes plus 1 lap. Since race 1 ended the rain showers had stopped, and with several other races taking place, the track began to look dry! That is until the WSSCC runners entered the holding area! Rain once again swept the track, and although the organisers tried to get the cars to start asap, it turned out to be counter-productive! Two cars, Andy Williams, and Clive Dix flew off the track and beached themselves on the wet grass. Although they seemed undamaged, the organisers delayed the start to recover them! (This was communicated by a neat Digital Screen on the start lights gantry supplied by the timekeeping firm TSL) Although the recovery might have been straight forward, the length of the track made for a long delay before the race was due to start. On the damp surface, Jason didn’t make the best of starts, and Dave Harvey was disappearing at a rate of knots! Jason was in 3rd place and fighting the Audi TT of Steve Hall. It was no holds barred as Hall squeezed Jason up by the pit-wall as they started lap 2. Later in the lap Jason was left with no room and had a quick spin on the grass, losing his front splitter in the process. Luckily he was able to regain the track and started lap 2 in 13th place! However something remarkable then happened as Jason started to pick up pace. Dad Martin explained, “We run Pirrelli tyres and sometimes they can be funny, but Jasons tyres suddenly switched on and he had was able to claw back time”. At the end of lap 3 he was up to 9th and passed Nick Crompton for the Class CS lead, going into Old Hall, the first corner after the start-line! Setting the races fastest lap on lap 3, Jason passed car after car and was in 2nd place as they approached Lodge Corner! Just then the red & chequered flags came out as Fabio Luffarelli, who was 4th behind Jason on lap 1, but then suffered even more than Jason had, was stuck in a dangerous place, and that was the end of the race! In the standard Red flag fashion the positions are taken from the last complete lap i.e Lap 3! This meant that Jason went back to 9th and Nick Crompton was in the Class CS lead! By lap 3 Dave Harvey was well in the lead, Reuben Taylor was 2nd having got the better of Steve Hall on lap 2, and that was the 1-2-3 in the results. 4th was Grant Woodhatch with his VW Corrado. Grant kindly donated some nice trophies for Class I drivers (which Dave Harvey, Steve Hall and Reuben Taylor shared) 5th was Nick Crompton, 6th was Chris Everill. (Chris was 5th on lap 2!) Simon Sheridan was 7th but he had Tyrone Luffarelli on his tail! Jason was 9th in the results. Dave Scaramanga was 10th only ½ sec ahead of Danny Carroll and his Class I Caterham. Fellow Class I entries Alex Kite and Ben Griffiths were 12th & 13th making a Class I 3 in a row. Ben Griffiths in Honda Accord was closely followed by Daryl Radford who won the Class BS battle this time from Darren Hockleys’ BS Civic! Keith White was up to 16th with his BMW Z4, after starting from the back, and he was narrowly ahead of Colin Dunn in his BT Clio! Colin had an early battle with the Escort of Greg Barlow. Gareth Haycock was 19t,h and Nick Rocke, who was struggling with a lack of 4th gear, was 20th. Mark Williams was 21st after passing a fast starting Andrew Williams who finished 22ndin his MG ZR. Alan Smith was 23rd and his consistent pace put him in front of Melissa Luffarelli who dropped back behind Alan to finish 24th. Verity Banks completed the finishers and racked up another finish!

So in short, Tyrone Luffarelli won Class BT again, with Dave Scaramanga and Daryl Radford also class winners. With Nick taking the Class CS win ahead of Jason, this should mean that when the points come out, Tyrone has enough points to take the 2017 title. Jason and Dave Scaramanga will dispute 2nd & 3rd place. Several of the other places in most of the Classes are up for grabs, as is the Colin Gundersen Trophy, where Dave Scaramanga is narrowly leading by 2.87 points from Tyrone!

In a final ironic twist, in a familiar motor-sport fashion, after a day of brief sunshine, heavy rain showers and glowering clouds, the clouds parted and for many heading South, it was a nice sunny evening!

Report & photos by Rob Allender

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2017 WSSCC Rounds 7 & 8 Pembrey + new corners – Sunday 23rd July!

Entry & Practice – The weather, and what it is going to do, is source of endless fascination to many people. After an early morning rain shower made practice a ‘wet’ affair, it was dry until there was a second shower late in race one. After that it was dry and even the sun came out, which must have been galling for Simon Hutchings who was looking to make his debut with us on Sunday! Unfortunately Simon spun off in torrential rain in Fridays testing and damaged his car! Simon hopes to be out with us in October.

Jason Davies get sideways on his way to Pole position! (photo by Jason Evans)

Qualifying (aka Practice) was held on a wet track but it was the usual suspects at the front with Jason Davies (Ford Sierra T) who was on Pole with a time of 69.523, which was almost 2 seconds quicker than anyone else! Bradley John was second fastest in his Mitsubishi Evo. On the second row was Nick Crompton and his Evo and 3rd fastest , and making a welcome return, was Chris Everill and his red Ginetta G50. On Row 3 was Andy Williams (non-turbo Ford Sierra Sapphire) and Ken James (Loco Hornet) on row 4 was Damian Logontano (Westfield SE) and Fabio Luffarelli (VW Corrado silhouette) On Row 5 was Mike Moss with his Westfield (making that side of the grid a Westy double with Damians car) alongside was Tyrone Luffarelli (Peugeot 106) making that side of the grid a Father & Son double! While Tyrone was on the Class BT pole with 1.20.721, on row 6, Colin Dunn (also in BT) was close with 1.21.116! Alongside Colin was Dave Scaramanga with his Class CT VW Scirocco. On row 7 was Mark Williams (180) with his Class CT VW Golf. Alongside was Daryl Radford (181)and his Class BS Honda Civic. On Row 8 was Gareth Haycock (Class CT VW Golf, thanks to Dave S). Alongside Gareth should have been Mat Harries, but he broke a half shaft in his Porsche 944 which ruined his Diff, so after a valiant try to fix failed, sadly it was back on the trailer! On row 9 was Andrew Williams and his MG ZR 105 and Nick Rocke with his Ford Fiesta, both in Class BT! On Row 10 was Darren Osborn BMW and Richard Francis( Saxo VTR. )Richard pulled off early as he only had slicks. On row 11 was Melissa and her Class M Moto Mini. Alongside was Ellis Wiggin. On the last row was Verity Banks and her MG ZR.

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After practice the Clerk of the Course Mike Skelton, gave a briefing to all the drivers in the Scrutineering Bay under the watchful eye of the MSA Steward. (if you don’t know, the MSA Steward is a highly experienced official who is appointed by the MSA to over-see the meeting, and he is responsible for ensuring we run the meeting safely, guided by the Blue Book rules along with the BARC club stewards, the highly experienced John Felix and Brian Hopper. He will make a report to the MSA on the meeting, including reporting on any disciplinary matters). During the briefing the 2017 MSA Blue Book was held aloft, and Mike said plainly that this is a non-contact sport

Race 1 -15 minutes plus one lap – rolling start

It bears telling that I can only see what I can see, from where I am standing. In general I try to make these reports reflect the fun, enjoyment and action from motor racing. Sometimes things happen that don’t make writing a report, particularly easy or enjoyable. However lets pick up on some of the action.

Richard Francis chases Daryl Radford into the new corners! (photo by Jason Evans)

There was no commentary through the speakers where I was. But I could see that as the pack passed the start-line lights, to start the race, it was a 4 way fight on the run down to Hatchets with Jason & Bradley side by side with Nick & Chris right there too! There was some smoke (tyres?) in the air, but the next time they came into view, Jason Davies emerged from Debeni in the lead, but with Nick Crompton in 2nd place, closely followed by Bradley John. The next time I saw them, Nick & Bradley were side by side, heading to the new corners. Then as Jason came round in the lead, Bradley was second, Chris Everill was 3rd and Nick was 4th. Meanwhile over at Hatchets, Mark Williams and Nick Rocke got involved, in what might be called, a typical Hatchets tangle. Richard Francis who was 12th place behind Mark, had a ring-side seat, and was able to miss it all and carry on his way, now in 11th place! However Marks & Ricks cars were stuck and unmoveable, so the Red Flags had to come out, after only 5 laps. Ricks car was ok with a tow back to the paddock. Marks car needed a full recovery, but with some fluid escaping, it took what seemed an age (possibly 20 minutes)to arrange the clean-up and to re-start the race. Two other cars need a recovery as well, after Mike Moss made a mistake and hit Andy Williams, the impact side-lining both the Ford Sierra Sapphire and the Westy with broken wheels! Mike was very sorry and upset and he went to Andys’ paddock space to try to apologise.

At the re-start, once again Jason took the lead, with Bradley John 2nd & Chris Everill 3rd. Jason started to pull a gap but Bradley put in the Class CS fastest lap in his efforts to chase Jason. However Bradley only lasted 5 laps before pulling off it the pits. This left Chris Everill into 2nd place, with Damian Longotano in 3rd place. Joining Bradley on the side-lines were, Andrew Williams, whose MG just stopped, and Ellis Wiggins.

Behind the flying Jason, the best action was in the midfield., as Dave Scaramanga and Tyrone Luffarelli had duel, followed by Richard Francis, who is coming on well in recent races, and Daryl Radford. Melissa Luffarelli and Colin Dunn were having a good tussle as were Ellis Wiggins and Daryl Radford. Darren Osborn was showing improved form in the BMW as was Verity Banks. Daryl & Richard changed places a few times, but in the final analysis, Tyrone Luffarelli was 7th with Richard Francis close by in 8th place. Daryl Radford was 9th. Colin Dunn was 9th with Melissa close by. Darren O was 13th and Verity Banks scored her 3d race finish in a row! At the front Jason continued to pull away on his way to the race win. Late on a rain shower swept the track but this did not matter to Jason and he was almost 25 seconds ahead of Chris who had Damian close behind in 3rd place. Fabio was later elevated to 4th. Ken James was 5th (and ‘Driver of the Race’) Dave Scarmanga was 6th and the last un-lapped runner.

It took a long time after the end of the race to bring out the final race results, as sadly there was a lot of cars bearing signs of damage, and lot of very upset drivers! However after a long delay a set of amended results were issued and they showed that car 80 (Nick) was excluded from the race & the meeting!

In the lunch break it was nice to see, amongst others, Blake Edwards our first ever champion, Alvin Powell, Rhodri Jenkins, and Denis Carter who as the head of BARC in the 1990s, oversaw the development of Pembrey into the facility it is today.

Race 2 Rolling Start 15 minutes plus 1 lap

Jason brings the pack around to start race 2 (photo by Jason Evans)

In between races we were treated to the very surprising sight of a tornado in the sky over towards Pembrey Country Park! But as race 2 started, the sun had come out. This time there were only 17 starters. Crucially Class CS was down to 3 starters, with Jason Davies on Pole with Damian Longotano on the row behind. Chris Everill was on the front row with Fabio behind him. On row 3 was Ken James and Dave Scaramanga. On Row 4 was Tyrone Luffarelli and the surprising Richard Francis. On row 5 was Daryl Radford and Colin Dunn. On row 6 was Melissa Luffarelli and Gareth Haycock . On Row 7 was Darren Osborn and Verity Banks. Behind them were the re-starters Ellis Wiggins, Andrew Williams and Nick Rocke.

As the pack passed the start-line, everyone was surely hoping for a race to raise the spirits. It was not without drama however, for Jason Davies, as although he emerged from Hatchets in the lead, he had a West Wales ‘Love-tap’ from Damian Longotano. It wasn’t a big hit, but later it had a big effect! However Jason blasted on, but with Chris Everill in surprisingly close attendance, and it became clear that something was wrong, and it looked like something was dragging on the ground! It turned out that the Sierras rear diffuser had been dislodged and Jason was called into the pits to try to get it fixed! So this meant Chris Everill was now in the lead, Damian was in 2nd , a place Fabio moved into when Damian went off! Jason’s crew Tie-wrapped the rear diffuser back up and after losing almost two laps, Jason powered back into the race! The diffuser dropped back down as soon as he left the pits, however as it was still attached to the car, Jason was allowed to continue and eventually finished 8th! However this was good enough for 2nd in class, as Damian had crashed out at Brooklands after missing a gear when lapping some backmarkers! Fabio was then 2nd and Ken James was now 3rd on the road, and 1st in Class CS. These positions remained static for the rest of the race, although they lapped the rest of the field! Behind them in 4th place was Darryl Radford was One lap down but he, Dave S, Tyrone and Colin Dunn had a great scrap early on, until Colin became the 2nd and last person to retire! Tyrone got the better of Dave Scaramanga to finish 5th with Dave 6th. Melissa, who was 7th, had an excellent race with Richard Francis (8th) until the recovering Jason Davies passed Richard taking 8th and pushing Richard down to 9th! Ellis Wiggins rose from the back to harass Gareth Haycock, and eventually passing Gareth to finish 10th However the Marshals on post 3 choose Gareth as the ‘Driver of the Race’. Gareth was the last driver on 13 laps

On 12 laps, Nick Rocke was 12th after a great race with Andrew Williams who was 13th. Darren Osborn was happy with 14th p1ace. Verity was 15th and last but still managed to only loose the 2 laps!

So Chris Everill reeled off the laps to the chequered flag with Fabio 2nd and Ken James 3rd. This time we coulc hear as the commentator interviewed the top Three! The winner Chris Everill confirmed ‘I could see Jasons’ diffuser was hanging down, so I kept on pushing!’

Fabio(who has had 4 x 3rd places), sounded very happy to move up a place! ‘I didn’t know I was 2nd! I’m very impressed! A good day for all! I’m over the moon!’

Ken James was equally joyful and ecstatic with his 3rd Overall and 1st place in Class CS ‘It was hard work, but I’ll take it’ Ken confirmed he had played his Joker ‘I did, I did! That’s excellent that It paid off! I’m pleased with that! It was better than race 1, when a lot of damp track caught me out! That’s my excuse, but I had to check the ‘Big Book of Excuses’ to see which one I could use.’

So that brought the curtain down on the week-ends action and the focus should now switch to Oulton Park for the next rounds on Saturday September 9th (they are not able to race there on a Sunday). In the meantime let’s hope that Mike Skelton’s words’ this is a non-contact sport’ really sink in! Myself, I am reminded of the words of a former champion, who described the Championship as ‘a competitive championship populated with Gentleman drivers’ With respect to the lady drivers who have graced our championship with their presence, we need to make sure The Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship becomes again ‘a competitive championship populated with Lady & Gentleman drivers’ regards Robert

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2017 WSSCC Rounds 5 & 6 Mallory Park – Sunday 4th June!

The Entry & Practice – A group of 16 WSSCC contenders made the trip to rural Leicestershire for the Welsh Championship first away day at Mallory Park in 10 years and along with a couple of Guests it made a pleasant 18 car entry! Initally it was Sunny & Dry and Fastest in Practice was Jason Davies with a time for 48.814 secs or 99.56 mph! 2nd fastest and only 0.22 behind Jason was Piers Grange, an Invitation driver from Crewe, with his Ford Escort MK1 Silhouette, which was an effective piece of kit with a turbo engine! Piers best lap was timed at 99.11 mph! Behind the Blue Oval twosome, 3rd & 4th with the EVO pair of Bradley & Nick, both in the 50s. Andy Williams was 5th fastest in his heavy metal non-turbo Ford Sapphire alongside Fabio Lufferelli and his VW Corrado Silhouette. Fabio was the last driver in the 90s with a lap speed 91.12 mph! Behind them was Damian Longotano in his Westfield with a disappearing wing, and Dave Scaramanga in his Class CT VW Sirocco! 9th fastest was our second guest, Marcus Bicknell and his massive & striking 1971 Mustang! It must be the biggest car we’ve ever had in one of our races,(I can’t remember one bigger) and Marcus from, Chalfont St Giles, was up for a bit of fun, declaring ‘I’ll need a 3 point turn to get around Shaws hairpin, so the others will just have to wait!’ The way Marcus drove was certainly spectacular with smoke coming of the tyres at almost every corner! In a ‘David v Goliath’ scenario alongside Marcus on the grid was Ellis Wiggins and his Vauxhall Nova! Next up on row 6 was Tyrone Luffarelli and his trusty Class BT Pug with Mark Williams and his VW Polo, alongside. On row 7 was Colin Dunn (Clio) and Mat Harris (Porsche 944)

Next up on Row 8 should have been Gareth Haycock and his VW Golf and Mellissa Luffarelli and her moto Mini. Unfortunately Gareth would not be taking his place on the grid after he had a heavy accident, late in the session, after dropping 2 wheels on the grass on the exit to Gerards Bend! This spat the car across the circuit and straight into the barriers, head on! This wrecked the front of the Golf, but thankfully Gareth was ok, apart from a bruised leg. The car looked beat up, but Grant the mechanic reckoned it might be fixable back at the garage! Occupying the final row was Nick Rocke and Verity Banks! At one stage it looked like Verity would not be able to race as her own car wasn’t ready, then Andrew Williams stepped in and offered Verity a drive in his MG ZR! Andy explained ‘I didn’t plan to enter my car but I was going to come up and marshal, so I brought the car for Verity!’ Compared to Andy, Verity is petite (that’s French for small) but she bought some cushions!

In the lunch break, Martin Davies explained the bizarre reason for his ‘Oil surge’ problems at Pembrey. ‘Apparently I didn’t run the engine in for long enough!When I put on the boost, the increased friction ‘glazed the cylinder bores’ and the piston rings started to pressurise the oil, which escaped into the catch tank and the oil that was left, started to surge! We’ve fixed the glazing, so now I’m going to take long time to run it in properly this time!’ If all is well Martin should be out at the next Pembrey meeting in July.

The Race 15 minutes plus one lap – Rolling start!

Lap 1 – Piers lead Jason

By the time of the race, the sun was long gone, and some light drizzle showed itself from time to time, without coming to much. A little later than published, due to a delay to the programme, after the Kart practice as halted to allow the Air Ambulance to take a casualty away; the grid left for their ‘Green Flag’ lap, but without Dave Scaramanga whose engine died before he could get to the grid ‘I suspect it’s the crankshaft sensor but we can’t fix it here’ Colin Dunn did take the start, but didn’t get much further, as he felt his rear wheels take flight after the cars rear wheel bearings collapsed, and he waited out the race at the nearest Marshals post!

So Jason lead the grid to the lights, after the pace car had pulled off, and then it was ‘Race on’ to the first corner, and it was Piers Grange, (Invitation Class) who jumped into the lead with Jason in very hot pursuit! (Class win? What Class win!). Piers lead across the line on lap one, but then Jason passed him for the lead and led the rest of the race, but with the Orange Escort tied to his bumper, and never more than a few 10ths behind! Jason tried to build a gap in the early laps and set the first 100 mph (100.98 mph) lap of Mallory Park for a WSSCC contender! However Piers responded and left the races fastest lap at 47.894 secs which equals an astounding 101.56mph! However we will leave the leaders fighting it out until later!

Behind them, in the battle of the Evos, in 3rd place was Bradley John followed by Nick Crompton. Nick was late to join the gird, after his team found his oil cooler had burst! This needed some urgent work to by-pass it! Late in the race Nick began to drop back as his oil temperature rose, but on 20 laps, he was the last runner on same lap as the leaders!

On 19 laps, Fabio Luffareli had big dice with Andy Williams for 5th place with Andy in 5th until Fabio overtook him. Behind them Damian Longatono had a lonely race to 6th but found not much difference in the car, without the wing! Initially in 7th place was the massive Mustang of Marcus Bicknell, with the rest of the grid snapping at his heels! Tyrone Luffarelli & Mark Williams were the first cars through, leaving Ellis Wiggins and his tiny Nova hanging on to Marcus’ Mustang like a Chalfont! (Chalfont St Giles – cockney rhyming slang – you work it out!) Melissa was the next to make it through, followed by Mat Harries. Later Mark Williams fell back behind Marcus, but Tyrone (Class BT winner) eventually made his way up to 7th place. Mat (Class CT winner) was 8th, just ahead of Marcus who was 9th. Mark Williams (2nd in CT) was 10th ahead of Nick Rocke, Ellis Wiggins and Verity Banks, who finished the race..

Back at the front Piers Grange made a big effort late on to close the gap to Jason, and on lap 13 was only 0.146 behind! He was close. but then too close, as he ran into the back of Jason! Jasons’ Ford Sapphire picked up some battle damage, but Piers was out with a broken front rim and a flat tyre! This left Jason to reel off the laps, crossing the line after 20 laps 33 seconds ahead of Bradley John. Nick Crompton was 3rd but distant from Bradley. Fabio was 4th with Andy Williams in 5th place.

However, unfortunately Fabios daughter Melissa also did not finish! She got as high as 9th when the duel between her dad Fabio and Andy Williams came up to lap her! Andy looked to overtake Fabio, but it didn’t happen! However there was an incident between Andy and Melissa! Andys Ford Sapphire continued with some battle scars, but Melissa little Mini was out on the spot with several broken wheels and other damage! It was an incident, thankfully rare in the Welsh Championship, but it was something that needed the attention of the Clerk of the Course.

Jason Davies crossed the line at a canter and was cock-a-hoop at an excellent win, but the commentators said they didn’t have time to do a post-race interview with the winner, so Robert did it! Jason tells Robert about his race Jason race 1 interview-v2

Race 2 -15 minutes plus one lap – Rolling start!

The grid for race 2 is based on the finishing order of race 1! This left Jason on pole, with Bradley John alongside. Row 2 saw Nick Crompton along with Fabio Luffarelli. However one of the features of race 2 is to see if any of the quick cars with low grid positons can pull back to the front. At the back this time were Piers Grange and Melissa, now back an running thanks to several spare wheels that her dad Fabio and brother Tyrone, found in the back of the cavernous Luffarelli transporter! From the moment that Jason brought the grid towards the lights, it was clear he was in no mood to hang around! Setting off like some kind of Welsh ‘Ayrton Senna’ Jason was almost 2 seconds ahead of Bradley John at the end of the first lap!

Coming out of the ‘Devils Elbow’ on lap 1, Jason, in an eye-popping moment, had the car really sideways, but caught it in a masterly fashion, and continued on his way!. Afterwards he said’ I knew Piers would be coming through the grid, so I wanted to build a big lead, so he wouldn’t be harassing me later on. However that moment early on, really got my attention!’ Now fully focused, Jason worked hard in the early laps, to build himself lead! It took until lap 5 for Piers to get into 2nd place, but by that time Jason had a 10 second lead, which he managed to the end! Although both Jason & Piers set fastest laps in 100mph bracket, the race pace was a little slower and the top 4 , Jason, Piers, Bradley and Nick, only did 19 laps this time! Fabio had an interesting dice with Andy Williams, swapping places a few times before Fabio pulled off late on, when his engine died. This left Andy all alone in 5th place but 1 lap behind. However Tyrone (CT) in 6th place, and sister Melissa (M) in 7th ,were upholding the Luffarelli family honour as both were class winners! Mat Harries was 8th and the CT class winner again! Mark Williams, Class CT Polo, was in 9th place, Nick Rocke was 10th, and in 11th place Verity Banks finished a race again! That’s Practice and 2 races, all in one day. A happy Verity, who improved her time in every session, explained. ‘There was an odd occasion, when the quick cars weren’t passing, when I was able to concentrate on my driving’ Her efforts won her the ‘Driver of the Race ‘award, and Andrew Williams got a round of applause for showing the true spirit of the championship!

Sadly, Marcus Bicknell only did 2 laps in his mighty Mustang, before he retired with a rough sounding engine. Damian Longotano retired on lap 8. Ellis Wiggins pulled off late after losing all drive possibly due to a dodgy cv joint!

Entry & Practice. This was to be the first time the WSSCC had used Pembrey with the new Rhodri & Phil inspired complex, making it a welcome change. The general feeling was that it was well liked, with lap times about 6 seconds a lap slower!

There was a welcome 25 car entry with the usual mix of regulars, one notable returnee, and some welcome newcomers! After qualifying Jason Davies took pole position in his 2wd Ford with a time of 66.238 seconds. Next to him was the notable returnee of Martin Davies (Jasons’ dad) who set a time of 67.740 secs in his 4wd Ford. The times were of academic interest compared to the grid positions and 3rd fastest was Bradley John and his Hi-tech Misubishi Evo. However next to him was the first of the newcomers, Nick Crompton of Bridgend, with his slightly lower tech Evo! Nick had done some sprints before, but the car had not been used for 5 years! It and the driver didn’t look too rusty! On Row 3 was Fabio Luffarelli with his Suzuki powered VW Corrado silhouette and Damian Longotano, with his Westfield now sporting a rear wing! On Row 4 were Ken James and Andy Williams. Row 5 saw Glynne Jones and his BMW and Mellissa Luffarelli and her Suzuki powered Mini. On Row 6 were 2 Class Pole sitters Dave Scarmanga (Class CT. VW Sirocco), and making a welcome return, Daryl Radford (Class BS Honda Civic). On Row 7 another newcomer making a big impact was Adam Jones from Tenby and his Class BS Honda Civic, (tended by Endaf) with Tyrone Luffarelli taking the Class BT pole with his Pug 106. On row 8 were Gareth Haycock (Class CT VW Polo) and Richard Francis who was the only Class AS runner, but was still doing a good job! On row 9 was Tony Gallager, and his Honda Accord, one of the Irish Touring Cars who decided to get in a quick race with us, before heading back home to Ireland and Colin Dunn (Class BT Clio) On row 10 was another newcomer Mark Williams (Class CT VW Polo) and Mat Harries (CT Porsche 944) On Row 11 was Andrew Williams (Class BT MG ZR) and another welcome newcomer Ellis Wiggins and his Class BS Vauxhall Nova (tended by 2013 Champion Chris Morris!) On Row 12 were the final 2 newcomers Darren Hockley (Class BS Honda Civic)and Darren Osborne (Class BS BMW). On his own on the final row was Alan Smith (Class AT Ford Ka Sport)

Race 1 15 minutes +1 lap – Rolling start. As the lights changed it was Martin Davies who took the lead with Jason as close

How race 1 started! (all action photos by Steve Williams)

company! With this being the first time that both Martin & Jason had been side by side in equal cars, this had the hallmarks of a classic duel, as Martin didn’t appear in any hurry to cut Jason any slack! Martin set the fastest lap of the race on lap 2, and the pair of Fords drew away from the Evo pair of Bradley John and Nick Crompton. It seemed only a matter of time before Jason tried to find a way past Martin, but suddenly Jasons’ car began trailing some smoke! Whatever it was, it was getting worse and Jason retired to the pits on lap 6. Martin was now a good distance ahead of Bradley John, but dramatically he too began to slow, and only 2 laps later he joined Jason in the pits! This left Bradley in the lead, with a handy lead over Nick in second and Fabio Luffarelli in 3rd place. As always, although there was some spell binding action & drama, at the front of the race, there was plenty of action throughout the grid. Notably Tyrone Luffarelli dropped to back of the grid, to take the start. ‘I saw a few people overshoot the new complex so I thought I’d keep out of way, until things settled down’ He then pulled up through the field to finish in 12th place, taking the Class BT win and late in the race, the BT Fastest lap too!

Ahead of Tyrone. Damian Longotano was 4th but he had Ken James (5th) & Andy Williams (6th) for close company early on. Glynne Jones as 7th and Mellissa Luffarelli was 8th and was the last un-lapped runner! In the Battle of the Honda Civics newcomer Adam Jones finished 9th and was the Class BS winner but he had a monumental scrap with Daryl Radford who was only 0.2 behind Adam at the end. However Daryl at least had the satisfaction, and an extra point, for setting the fastest lap! In 11th was Dave Scaramanga, who had Tyrone as a buffer between himself and a determined Gareth Haycock. In 14th was our Irish guest Tony Gallagher, who gave a good account of himself in his Honda Accord! In 15th place and also improving was Richard Francis, who unfortunately was the only Class As runner.

However it was all action in lower reaches of the grid, with Colin Dunn holding 16th place early on, but with plenty of company, in the manner of Mat Harries, Mark Williams, Ellis Wiggins, Andrew Williams, Darren Hockley, Darren Osborne, and Alan Smith. When the musical cars were stopped by the chequered Flag, it was Mat and his Porker 944 in 16th! Ellis Wiggins was an excellent 17th on his debut with his Nova, but with Colin Dunn on his right on his boot-lid in 18th! Andrew and his MG ZR won the battle of the Williams’ in 19th place with Mark and his VW Polo, the last runner on 13 laps in 20th Place! Darren Hockley, Alan Smith and Darren Osborn were the final runners. So Bradley John reeled off the laps to take his maiden WSSCC race win!

How Race 1 ended! Bradley John takes his first win, closly chased earlier on by Nick Crompton, and Fabio Luffarelli

It could have been easy to have be affected by the occasion, but Bradley drove well to write his name into history, by winning the inaugural WSSCC race on the new layout! In the post-race interview he said ‘It my first win in my first full season so hopefully many more to come’ Nick in 2nd place commented that ‘It’s my first circuit race, and I loved every minute, it was brilliant. I did get stuck behind a few of the back markers, and I have to apologise, I think I hit Jason at one stage. With the close racing and the entertainment it was exciting for me and hopefully the crowd too. These cars are amazing things’ So Bradley and the John family were left to bask in the sunshine and the joy of a first win, but It wasn’t like that for everyone. But more of that later!

In the lunch break it was nice to see Rhodri, Alvin and Roger Dowden, but where are the cars lads! No excuses get them out for the next Pembrey! Alvin was said to be on £250 starting money to take his ex-BTCC car up to Knockhill in Scotland! Knowing his luck it’ll probably end up as 250 pounds weight in Haggis! In the Davies’ camp there was frantic action, as Martin & Jason tried to find out the cause of their woes. Martin confirmed that he had slowed as his Oil pressure warning light was coming on. ‘I tried to straight line the corners to see if that helped, but when it didn’t I pulled off, rather than risk the engine. I don’t know but we’ve fitted a new ‘Big Wing’ sump, and that may be the trouble! Anyway there is no sense in risking it further.’ Jason however may have been lucky as the plume of ‘Smoke’ turned out to be steam, as the hose clip holding the water pipe to the pump had broken! ‘It was a new clip that was narrower than the more usual ones, so we’ll change and see what happens’ Changing it wasn’t as easy as it sounds as it was in an inaccessible place, but Jason and his pit crew, Brendan Evans and Callum McKenzie, got to work to dis-assemble the front of the car to get at the offending part. They were bent on replacing the ‘Wurth-less’clip and changing it for a 2002 clip (2002 was the Queens golden Jubilee, as we shouldn’t endorse a product by name, but you get the drift)

Race 2 15 minutes +1 lap – Rolling start

Jason is coming! Bradley John leads from Nick Crompton as Jason Davies has them both in his sights

So as Bradley lead the pack around, Jason joined in at the very back, as the grid for race 2 is set from the results of race 1. At the lights Bradley lead the pack around from Hatchets, but in the early laps Nick Crompton was closer than he had been in the early laps of race 1. Meanwhile Jason had picked his way through the smaller, less powerful cars, as you might expect, and at the end of lap 1 he was behind Fabio in 7th place! By the end of lap 2 he was into 3rd place, but still at a relatively modest pace! Bradley was leading from Nick but by only a few hundredths! Jason meanwhile had begun to pick up his pace and set the races’ fastest lap on lap 3 as he cruised up to Nick & Bradley. Then Jason pounced on lap 4 and went from 3rd to 1st in one dramatic move! Afterwards he commented ‘I said to dad that I’m going to see if the engine holds the boost after the first lap. If it does, then I’m going to go for it!’ Nick soon passed Bradley but wasn’t able to challenge Jason as he moved away to win by 12 seconds! Nick said after ‘I could see Bradleys’ tyres were going off, and I was just about to try to pass him, when Jason passed us both!’ Later on Bradley fell back and was passed by Fabio and fell back further to come under pressure from Ken James! In the end Bradley just held on to 4th place by 0.2 secs from the charging Loco Hornet! In the early laps in a tight bunch, Damian Longatano was 4th ahead Andy Williams, Fabio, and Ken himself and Glynne. However first Fabio, and then Ken made their way through the pack. Damian stabilised himself in 6th place, Glynne was 7th and Andy was 8th. Behind them Mellissa was 9th and the last of the un-lapped runners. However she had Dave Scaramanga as close company for most of the way, and her efforts inspired the Marshals on Post 3 to nominate her for the ‘Driver of the Race’ award. In 11th place, Daryl Radford was the Class BS winner! He got a good start and was high as 9th in the early laps until Mellissa & Dave got past. He then spent the rest of the race making sure he had a gap to Tyrone, who in 12th place was going a good job of bottling up Adam Jones, Daryl’s Class BS sparring partner! Gareth Haycock was 14th with Richard Francis in 15th. Richard was hoping some new tyres would give him a boost, however his fastest lap time was slower than in Race 1! Behind him was a classic duel between Mat Harris & Colin Dunn! Colin had Mat under pressure and nipped past to take 17th place in the closing laps, but Mat fought back and there was only 0.3 secs between then at the end! In 18th to 20th, Mark with his MG ZR won the battle of the Williams’ this time from first time racer Mark and his VW Polo! Darren Hockley (Honda Civic) was keeping them honest. Alan Smith was 21st and Darren Osborne was 22nd and last! Ellis Wiggins was the only retirement. So Jason reeled off the final laps to win by over 12 secs from Nick Crompton, with Fabio in 3rd place. After Fabio gave his opinion on the new track, ‘The new section of the track is fantastic. It’ a great leveller, the smaller powered cars are really doing well. My car is only 1000cc, so let’s hope it brings more people into the sport!’ Afterwards Jason celebrated with his family and his team and reflected on going from Hero to Zero and then back from Zero to Hero all in one day! Should be a new ride at Oakwood, the local West Wales fun park! More than that with Tyrone Luffarelli taking another maximum score, Jason must be grateful that ‘two dropped scores’ are now part of the regulations, as it is keeping his championship hopes very much alive! Times at http://www.tsl-timing.com/file/?f=BARC/2017/172021wss.pdf

The first 2 races in the 2017 championship were held on the ‘Classic’ course at Pembrey on Sunday April 23rd, which in contrast to Saturday, was overcast, slightly chilly, by dry. 2016 Champion Jason Davies, carrying the Champions number 1 on his car headed the timesheets, with a Pole lap of 60.949 secs! Jason has been busy over the ‘closed’ season and said he was well pleased with changes to his Class CS Ford Sierra Cosworth turbo. Chris Everill (61.517)was alongside with his Class D Ginetta G50. On the second row and both with times in 63 second bracket were the Class CS duo of Ken James (Loco Hornet) & Bradley John, with a bonnet full of bright & shiny bits on his Evo. On the 3rd row (64 seconds) was Fabio Luffarelli was 6th in his VW Corrado silhouette, now in the family colours of Green & White! Alongside was Damian Longatano, with a few new bits on his Westfield.

On row 4 Andy Williams (65.501) and Tyrone Luffarelli (67.196) broke up the trend, but it was a fine effort by Tyrone to get his Peugeot 106, so far up the grid! Also in the 67s on row 5 were Glynne Jones (BMW E26) & Dave Scaramanga (VW Sicrocco). On Row 5 were Mike Moss (Westfield) & Graham Haycock (VW). On Row 6 were Anthony Weeks (Mazda RX 6 Rotary) and Colin Dunn (Renault Clio Williams).

On row 7 was Melissa Luffarelli, (returning to the Championship after her travels, to drive the quick Moto-Mini) and Andrew Williams with a nice new wrap on his MG XR. On the penultimate row was newcomer Matt Harries and his Porsche 944 S2. However Matt and the Porker were having gearbox problems which was restricting his pace. He was joined by Nick Rocke, who also had a nice new wrap on his Ford Fiesta. On the final row were Alan Smith and Richard Francis who were both having car problems which restricted their pace.

As the cars came around to the start, Jason Davies took the lead and was pulling away from Chris Everill. Gareth Haycook looped around at Honda, ‘Trying too hard on cold tyres’ but he got going again, to continue! However the race barely lasted a few laps before it was stopped with a Red Flag! Ken James had gone straight on at Hatchets, when the lower wishbone broke and left him without steering or real brakes. Ken was uninjured and the car was undamaged, but as it was stuck in a dangerous place, it needed a suspended tow to get it back to the paddock!

The re-start – 11 laps. At the restart it was the same again as Jason headed the field and drew away from Chris Everill, by banging in some early quick laps! In the paddock after it was plain to see how hard Jason was pushing, as he had got little sideways on the far side of circuit, and dropped a wheel onto the grass, slightly damaging the bodywork! (actually durinh this period, Jason managed to shave some time from his own Class lap record) Chris tried as hard as he could to remain in touch and although Jason was some 5 secs up by lap five, Chris had also pulled away from the rest of the field by a similar amount! Bradley John was 3rd initially with Andy Williams 4th but with Fabio Luffarelli in close contact! Fabio passed Andy for 4th place early on, and it became 3rd place as Bradley took the Mitsubishi into the pits, as his oil pressure had begun to disappear. He did one more slow lap before retiring to the paddock with a possible split oil cooler being the culprit! Damian Longatano was now 5th with Glynne Jones in 6th, and the top 6 remained the same for the rest of the race!

In 7th place Tyrone Luffarelli was pedalling his Peugeot 106 in fine style, but he had Dave Scaramanga and his VW for very close company throughout the race. Indeed the competition between them was so fierce that each of them set a new Class Lap Record in the process! Tyrone broke the Class BT lap record and left it at 67.519 secs and Dave broke the CT record and left it at 67.181 secs! There was only was only 0.5 of a second between them at the end! Dave was the last runner to complete 11 laps! In 9th place was Mike Moss with Melissa Luffarelli completing the top ten after, rising up through the field as she got used to her Moto-Mini again. In the midfield, Gareth Haycock (VW) who finished 11th had Anthony Weeks rorty Rotary Maxda (12th) for close company! Richard Francis had fixed his car problem with his Saxo and pulled up well to finish 13th, winning the ‘The Driver of the Race’ for his efforts! He had Colin Dunn for company (14th). Newcomer Matt Harries and his Porsche 944 S2 was 15th. However Matt and the Porker were having gearbox problems, such as not knowing what, if any gear he would get next! This obviously restricted his pace. Andrew Williams (MG XR) held 16th place for a long time, but under pressure from Nick Rocke, who nipped by in the closing laps to take 16th and push Andrew back to 17th place. 18th and last was Alan Smith, who had been going well, but then dramatically slowed in the final lap!

So Jason won and set the fastest lap with Chris 2nd & Fabio 3rd. After the race, when the commentator, Peter Hughes suggested that a pole, a win & fastest lap, was an ideal way to start his title defence, Jason commented, ‘I cant fault it. It’s like carrying on from where we left off last season. We ran a low boost set up, but it looks like all the work we did in the winter has paid off. We happy with a clean sweep, lets hope we can do it in race 2!’ Chris Everill confirmed he couldn’t do anything about getting really close to Jason. ‘I was better through some of the corners, but he pulls away on the straights. We got another race later on, so we’ll go back & make some changes and see if we can pick up some more pace later on!’ Fabio was 3rd in his 998cc machine, and confirmed to Peter ‘I’m glad I finished, the clutch was causing a problem but we’ll fix that, but I’m delighted to be 3rd!

Race 2 15 minutes plus 1 lap – Rolling start

As the grid lined up for race 2 we were missing a few souls. Bradley, & Ken James were obviously out, but Alan Smith couldn’t fix his lack of power, so headed home to Yorkshire. Matt Harries was made of sterner stuff, and decided if he could find a gear, he would start. Luckily he found 3rd gear, so on he went! At the lights Chris Everill made a lighting start and took the lead! It was only for a few yards as Jason powered through, but Chris had a fast starting Fabio on his tail! Behind them, Damian Longatano got a good start, as did Glynne Jones who was ahead of Andy Williams. Glynne & Andy passed Damian early on, but Glynne was really flying after improving the traction on the BMW and began close on to Fabio. However the mouth-watering prospect of Glynne and Fabio having a dice, faded as Glynne had to move to fuel saving mode! Andy was the last unlapped runner in 5th place. Damian dropped away to finish 6th ahead of Mike Moss (7th) with Tyrone Luffarelli in 8th place. Although the top 8 places remained static there was an intriguing prospect of the first ever Bro v Sis dice as Melissa had moved into 9th place, but then Tyrone raised his pace and the prospect dimmed! However late in the race, dad Fabio reminded his son and daughter just who was the boss, and lapped both of them, but we had a Green & White wash as all 3 cars of the Luffarelli team headed towards the chequered flag in formation! This time the race for the full distance, and as Jason powered on towards his 2nd win of the day, Melissa was the last runner on 15 laps.

This time the best action came in the midfield and rounding out the top 10 was Anthony Weeks and his flame spitting rotary grill machine, after a big dice with Gareth Haycock, which impressed the marshals so much the nominated Anthony as the ‘Driver of the Race’! Richard Francis had the bit between his teeth and passed Gareth late on to finish in an excellent 11th. Gareth finished 12th with Colin Dunn coming close to finish13th. Matt Harries magnificently motored on in 3rd gear to finish 14th. Nick was 15th with Andrew Williams 16th. After starting well, Dave Scaramanga was the only retirement!

So Jason reeled off the laps for his 2nd win of the day. This time Chris Everill did keep him in sight for some of the way. Fabio was 3rd but some way back. But Tyrone upheld the Luffarelli family honour, by taking an early lead of the Championship with a strategic use of his Joker! The next races are at Pembrey on May 20/21 when the Irish racers come over, and that’s usually a hoot!

Seb n Rick head for Donny Park GT title showdown – Ben Hingeley looks to move up in F3! plus Andy Meyricks’ up & downs at the ‘Ring

British GT – WRDA member and 2011 Welsh Young Driver of the Year, Seb Morris and his teammate Rick Parfitt Jnr, will be at Donington Park on the weekend for the final race of the 2017 British GT Championship, with the cushion of a 10.5 point lead over their main rivals, Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen.

Seb n Rick aided by slick work by Team Parker Racing have won all the longer races so far this year, and Seb has set new lap records for GT3 cars at Oulton Park & Spa( which earned him the Sunoco Fastest Driver of the Weekend)! However due to the quirks in the championship points system, the 2 hour race at Donnington is a ‘winner takes all’ kind of race!

Minshaw is backed by the family firm ‘Demon Tweeks’ and he and Keen will be in their Lamborghini Hurrican while Seb & Rick will be in their usual Bentley Continental. Good news for the Bentley drivers, is that the weather forecast is for dry weather all weekend! This will put more pressure on Minshaw, who has had problems dealing with pressure in the past. Indeed he found himself under pressure from the other Team Parker Racing Bentley driven by Ian Loggie and Callum MacLeod at Silverstone and also at Spa where Loggie pounced for his first win, when Minshaw spun in front of them! (BTW MacLeod was 2007 British Formula Ford Champion & had a string of single seater success before moving into the British GT Championship).

The one fly in the ointment is that Seb n Rick must serve a 20 second ‘success’ penalty during the pit stop(s) for winning the last round at Brands Hatch! Seb has said he think they are the underdogs. However Minshaw & Keen must win if they are take the title, if they don’t, then Seb & Rick have other options.

In the 7 weeks since winning the last race at Brands Hatch, both Seb & Rick have been busy, with Seb finishing his qualification at the awesome Nurburgring Nordschleife and is now able to enter the Nordschleifes’ 24hr race in the top class! Meanwhile Rick has been gigging with his band, the RPJ Band, including the Thunderintheglens bikers festival in Scotland!

In the 2017 British F3 Championship, 20 year old Ben Hingeley from Abergele, has an excellent chance of climbing the points table with 4th place easily within his grasp! In 2017 Ben has become the latest in a long list of Welsh drivers to join the Fortec team and he has been a regular race winner & podium visitor, and with 3 races over the weekend, if things go his way even 2nd place is not completely out of the question!

September 17, 2017, Nürburgring, Germany – Having had lots of experience, and good results, at the Eifel Circuit, Andy Meyrick was hopeful of a good result with Bullitt Racing and the McLaren 570s GT4 during the weekend’s season finale of the GT4 European Series Northern Cup. The weekend started well with Meyrick in P2 at the end of the two practice sessions, but Qualli and Race 1 did not go as planned. Starting in 28th, Andys team-mate, Pattrick had contact on the fourth lap which caused an early end to the day for the Bullitt Racing team without Andy having being able to turn a lap!

In Race 2 after being unable to get the clear lap qualifying to make the most of the Bullitt Racing’s McLaren 570s GT4’s speed, Andy started Race 2 in 20th position, and he put on a fighting stint through the field to pit in fifth place! The team however were unable to restart due to a technical issue with the car, ending the day early for the team again. Andy said “It was a really disappointing weekend for us. We have the pace worthy of a podium and it was very unfortunate today that we were unable to restart the car. The team did a fantastic job all weekend and I wish for their sake we’d have been able to prove the team’s ability and the car’s performance with a good result.”

However, the team return to the track in two weeks to join the European GT4 Series Southern Cup in Barcelona aiming to secure a better outcome. In the meantime, Meyrick is back with Eric De Doncker and Motorsports98 in the Ligier JS P3 for the Spa-Francorchamps Round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup next weekend.

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Super Brands Hatch wins gives Seb n Rick at 10.5 lead in the British GT Championship!

Seb Morris and his Bentley Continental GT3 team-mate Rick Parfitt Jnr returned to winning ways in the 2 hour British GT Championship race on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, 6th August, to move to a 10.5 points lead in the title standings ahead of next month’s season finale.

Saturdays wet qualifying session played to the strengths of Seb n Ricks major rivals, Minshaw and Keen, who sealed a commanding pole in their Barwell Motorsport run Lamborghini Hurrican, while the Bentleys’ lack of wet weather traction restricted Seb & Rick to 5th place on the grid. However, Sunday’s dry track and warm, sunny conditions would favour Rick & Seb!

Top of the podium and the points for Seb n Rick(image supplied courtesy Jakob Ebrey Photography)

With the Am Drivers taking the first 1 hour stint, at the start, Minshaw led away but Rick Jnr was working his way through to the front, and after 20 minutes he caught and passed Minshaw at Graham Hill Bend, to chase the current leader James Littlejohn. Then a brief Safety Car period bunched up the field, but when Littejohns Aston Martin just stopped, Rick put in Bentley into the lead and began to establish a solid lead, before he pitted at the first opportunity, to hand over 20 second lead to Seb Morris. It was another Team Parker Racing master-stoke, as the other teams’ decisions to wait another lap before doing their pit-stop backfired! And after all the pit-stops unwound, Seb had a 26s lead, which had grown to 33.8s by the chequered flag, after an untroubled run through the final hour to deliver a dominant victory, and they departed the Kent track with a 10.5 point advantage at the top of the GT3 title race – having arrived at Brands Hatch 12 points adrift!

“I’m absolutely elated with the result, I didn’t expect it whatsoever”, said the Welsh Superstar and MSA Team UK racer, “Rick drove an absolute blinder in his stint, he did a fantastic job to get to the front, and then it was all about bringing it home. The car was awesome, the Team Parker guys were spot on as always, and I was able to increase the lead late on which was great. Now, we need to have a think about how we can win this championship! We didn’t expect to be in the lead of the points but it’s a fantastic feeling knowing we’re going to Donington for the last round on top. We will have the success penalty from today, though, so it’s not going to be easy and there’s still a lot of hard work ahead.” However with Seb, Rick and TPR dominant in the longer races, they have to fancy their chances! Especially when taking into account Minshaws mistakes under pressure!

There is now a lengthy seven week break from British GT action ahead of the grand finale of the 2017 season, round 10 at Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit in Leicestershire, over the weekend 23rd/24th September.

—— British F3 report ——-

Photo by Rob Allender

Aberegle racer Ben Hingeley had a frustrating weekend at Brands Hatch with a dnf after starting for 3rd place on the grid! But after starting race 2 in 14th position, Ben had the drive of his life! He was up to 6th by the end of the first lap , continuing to improve making a further 2 places for 4th. He had just made the move for 3rd when he was hit off the track! There was nothing he could have done and the other driver was excluded from the race . Unfortunately that doesn’t help Bens position in the championship. He was heading for another amazing podium . Race 3 started 7th and finished 5th. Maybe further damage from the mornings incident as struggled to turn right. Not the weekend he wanted but he did you show what he’s made of. Ben thanked the Fortec mechanics for working so hard. He is now 5th in the points standings with 319 points

The next races in the 2017 British F3 championship are at Snetterton on August 26 & 27

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Ben on his winning way!

Welsh racers Ben Hingeley, Seb Morris and Ryan Ratcliffe are heading to Brands Hatch for the latest rounds of the British F3 and British GT Championship. In the British F3 championship Ben Hingeley, after winning and finishing 3rd in Spa, has moved into 4th place, only 8 points behind James Pull in 3rd place & 17 points behind Tony Sowery in 2nd place! So a good score at Brands Hatch could see Ben, in the Fortec car, catapult himself into to the top of the points standings

—————– 2017 British GT Championship preveiw ————

The TPR car monsters the kerb at Eau Rouge (photo by Jacob Ebray)

In the British GT Championship, Seb and his teammate Rick Parfitt jnr are in 2nd place in the Championship only 12 points behind the leaders Jon Minshaw, Phil Keen and their Lamborghini Hurruican. The race at Brands Hatch is a full 2 Hour race and some people say that theoretically if Minshaw and Keen were to win and Seb and Rick were unable to score enough points to keep them in contact, Minshaw and Keen would win the championship with one round to spare! However in reality that would be an unlikely scenario as the Bentley Continental should be in its element, with Seb & Rick winning both the ‘Enduro’ races so far this season ‘at a canter’! Not only that, but the second Team Parker Racing driven by Ian Loggie and Callum MacLeod, won the last race at Spa, so it is Minshaw and Keen who will be under pressure, not only from the flying ‘B’ but also from the Aston Martin of James Littlejohn/Jack Mitchel who are currently 3rd in the Championship! Meanwhile whilst Seb was really pumped up “It’s great to be back racing in the UK next weekend and Rick and I are as determined as ever to close down the Lamborghini guys in the championship. With only two races to go there’s everything to play for, a big result at Brands is going to be vital for our championship and we’re confident we will be competitive’ Rick revealed he was also locked in a personal battle with Crohns Disease. ‘ I don’t normally talk about it, but living with Crohns Disease flare ups is hugely painful, utterly exhausting and thoroughly debilitating. However I have amazing support from my incredible wife, which helps me battle through it.’ This puts Ricks racing efforts and speed into a different light.

Meanwhile in the points standings , their recent win has pulled Loggie and MacLeod up to 8th place whilst Ryan Ratcliffe and his AM team-mate Lee Mowle are 9th

Opening practice at Brands Hatch GP Circuit will take place at 09.30 on Saturday, 5th August, with session two following at 12.05 ahead of qualifying at 16.25. On Sunday, 6th August, warm-up will get underway at 10.00 with the 120-minute ninth round of the season scheduled to commence at 14.10.

WRDA member Ben Hingeley moved to 4th place in the 2017 BRDC British F3 Championship, after he blasted to super win in race 1 at Spa last weekend, and has proved himself a real race winner and a threat to the current points leaders James Pull, Toby Sowery and Enaam Ahmed . Starting from 3rd place on the grid, 19 year old Ben from Abergele, driving the Fortec prepared car, stalked Sowery and Ahmed, overtaking them both in the early laps, with some forceful moves , and drove well to record a win by just over a second from Ahemd.

After he said “Last time out I claimed a win on a brilliant track like Silverstone and I’ve done the same today so I’m really made up. I got a great start and a lovely tow down the back straight on both Toby Sowery and Enaam Ahmed. I managed to get around the outside of Enaam and then I pushed on to catch Toby and I had the pace on him. I caught him and got a really nice tow down the back straight into the chicane. He defended to the inside, I went to the outside, out-braked him and got the move done.

As we went through the right I had the inside for the left and I’m not sure if because he took a tighter line, he understeered but there was a bit of contact which pushed me off the track and I had to take to the escape road a little bit. These things happen with racing and without the contact I would have made the corner quite comfortably. We’ll go again now, we’ve got the night to think about anything we need to change and try and figure out why the rear tyres went off a little bit and we’ll come back tomorrow to try and get another two wins.”

However Saturday starter as a bit of a downer, as Ben after a race to forget in Race 2, spending three laps in the pits early on following contact on the opening lap from fellow race one podium finisher Guilherme Samaia. The Brazilian driver retired in the pits and was handed a five place grid penalty for race 3 by the stewards. Ben recovered to finish an unclassified 16th.

But Ben then bounced back to finish 3rd in the final race of the weekend. Ben confirmed “It’s great to be back on the podium coming from sixth place on the grid, especially after what happened in race two – that really put us on the back foot. I think the track had changed today from yesterday especially this morning when it was a bit quicker, and after the GT race it seemed to slow down a lot. It probably hurt us a bit more than it hurt the other two and they had just a tenth or two more every lap which helped them get away. In the end that was enough and I couldn’t catch them. I was hoping that their battling would bring them closer to me but it didn’t happen and third was the best we could do I think.”

However the points scored have moved Ben into 4th place, only 8 points behind James Pull in 3rd place & 17 points behind Tony Sowery in 2nd place!

The next rounds are at Brands Hatch on 5/6th August.

Current 2017 British F3 points

1st Enaam Ahmed – (Carlin Racing) – 399pts

2nd Tony Sowery – (Lannan Racing)317pts

3rd James Pull – (Carlin Racing) – 308pts

4th Ben Hingeley (Fortec)-300pts

—————————— British GT Championship Report ——————–

Seb & Rick still 2nd overall after a tough weekend at the Spa

Two incident-packed British GT Championship races at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Saturday, 8th July, delivered a best finishes of 3rd and 5th places for Welsh racer Seb Morris and team-mate Rick Parfitt Jnr but still left Bentley Continental duo in 2nd place in the points, although now 12 points adrift in the standings.

Ending round seven fifth on the road and round eight seventh, (but with several drivers participating at Spa on a one-off , no points scoring basis) meant that Seb & Rick were actually third and fifth.

The pace of the Team Parker Racing drivers in Car 31, was undeniable, with Morris setting a new GT3 lap record for Spa in round seven to earn the Sunoco Fastest Driver of the Weekend award.

For the car 31, the weekend started well with Rick taking pole for race one pole, nut neither of the event’s contests went according to plan. With a 10 second ‘success penalty’, resulting from their win last time out at Silverstone, applied to the driver change pit-stop in the opening race, Rick Parfitt Jnr needed to try and make the most of his pole position to limit the impact. With just two racing laps completed in the first half of the race though, due to a pair of Safety Car periods, the task proved impossible and after the pit-stop Seb took over but finished fifth on the road, but 3rd in the points!.

In round eight, a realistic bid for the podium was ended by an unfortunate drive-through penalty linked to a track limits infringement. Running in second position late in the contest, Rick Parfitt Jnr eventually finished in seventh place overall (5th in the points) after serving the penalty with less than 10 minutes to go.

“It’s not been the weekend we hoped for but, on the upside, we haven’t lost that many points to the championship leaders and I’m obviously pleased to have achieved Fastest Driver of the Weekend again to prove our pace”, reflected Morris, “All of our focus now is on the next round at Brands Hatch where I’m sure we’ll be competitive. The first race was full of Safety Cars, so Rick couldn’t work his magic there in the opening stint, plus we had the success penalty in the pit stop which cost us another 10 seconds so fifth wasn’t a bad result in the end. With all of the problems in race two, coming away with some decent points and staying second in the championship was the best we could hope for.”

However it was happy days for the Team Parker Racing drivers in Car 7, Ian Loggie and Callum MacLeod who was 2nd in race 1 and actually won race 2, an excellent result for the Jules Westwood engineered car. The Points have put Loggie & MacLeod up to 8th place in the points standings!

For Ryan Ratcliffe and Lee Mowle it was a tough weekend. Lee has slowest in his qualifying session although Ryan was 9th in his. The Groundhog Mercedes finished 9th in race 1, and 8th in race 2.

British GT returns back to UK soil for the next event on the 2017 calendar, the annual visit to Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit in Kent, over the weekend 5th/6th August.

———– Spa Preview ————–

Welsh drivers Ben Hingeley, Seb Morris and Ryan Ratcliffe are heading to the classic Belgian drivers circuit at Spa-Francorchamps for the annual visit of the British F3 & British GT Championship package.

Ben on his way to win at Silverstone!

Abergele racer Ben Hingeley will be looking to add to his tally in the British Formula 3 championship, after winning at Silverstone! Driving the Fortec prepared car, Ben started well, and with a sweeping move from 4th place on the gird, took the lead at Copse Corner, and then charged on to his 2nd win of the year!

Rick sweeps into the lead at Silverstone! photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography

In the British GT championship, Seb Morris from Wrexham, and his team-mate Rick Parfitt Jnr and the Team Parker Racing (TPR) squad, are also looking for win number 3, having won the last 2 rounds, the 2 hr race at Rockingham and the 3 hr race at Silverstone.

However the format now reverts back to two x One Hour sprint races for Spa and the next date at Brands Hatch, before the finale at Donington, which is a 2 hour race. After winning the three-hour Silverstone 500 by of more than a minute , Morris and Parfitt Jnr’s sensational result also meant they closed to within just four points behind the of Lamborghini Huracan pair of Phil Keen and Jon (Demon Tweeks) Minshaw. (Although how Seb & Rick are not actually leading the championship by a substantial margin, after winning 2 of the major long distance races, is down to the quirky British GT points system! As it is 2 x 1 hour race wins, score more points than a 2 hour race win, and the 3 hr race scores no more points than the 2 hour race!)

However in 2016 they were a mere 0.6 seconds shy of victory at the Belgian Grand Prix venue, so Seb (ably backed up by Rick) will undoubtedly be ultra-quick again and likely to be a genuine contenders for silverware. From Seb n Ricks’ perspective, consistently strong scores in both 60-minute contests at Spa are key. The task will be made much harder, as off the back of the Silverstone win, the success penalty will apply to the driver-change pit-stop in the first race of the weekend! Additionally, there will be an expanded grid at Spa with some hugely competitive entries from the likes of Barwell Motorsport and international squad Kessel Racing – with Lamborghini and Ferrari respectively, and European GT racing heavyweight Team WRT, and their factory Audi R8!

“It’s always amazing to race at Spa and I can’t wait to be back there”, said Morris, “Last year we had a fantastic result and hopefully we can try and go one better this time around and challenge for another win. It’s not going to be easy, especially in the first race where we have the success penalty from the win at Silverstone, but we’re feeling positive. The addition of Kessel, the WRT team, and another Barwell Lamborghini will only make the challenge greater, but it’s one we’re ready for and looking forward to. At Silverstone the Bentley was really able to stretch its legs and maximise its strengths and I hope we’ll be in a similar situation at Spa”, added Morris, “The guys at Team Parker have been doing an amazing job with the car, Rick is driving brilliantly and I’m happy with my form too. Without any issues next weekend, hopefully we can be competitive in both races and score well.”

Llanellis’ Ryan Ratcliffe & his team-mate Lee Mowle are currently 8th in the points standing, but seemed on course for even more points at Silverstone, until a massive, non- damaging spin by Ryan, dropped them back. This time they will be hoping that Spa suits their Groundhog Mercedes car better.

However ‘the Elephant in the room’ (i.e something that has relevance, but which no-one wants to talk about) is the erratic and highly changeable Eifel weather, in which torrential rain can hit without warning, and this can turn a race on its head! Alternatively it might rain for the whole day, or not rain at all! Wet weather traction is the Bentley Continental’s Achilles heel, so everyone at TPR will be hoping for dry weather all weekend! Fortunately there is only one hairpin at Spa, the famous La Source hairpin, the first corner after the start. However once past the down-hill stretch from La Source to Eau Rouge, the climb up via Raddilion and the massive hill which is the Kemmel Straight to Les Combes, is surely Bentley (& maybe Mercedes) country! The rest of the circuit back to La Source is a pure drivers’ paradise!

As the 25 hour ‘Fun Cup’ race is due off on late Saturday, the opening practice for British GT at Spa will take place on Friday at 08.00 (UK time) on 7th July, with session two getting underway at 10.30 (UK time) and qualifying following at 15.15 (UK time). On Saturday, 8th July, round seven is scheduled to start at 08.20 (UK time) with round eight set to begin at 12.00 (UK time).

2017 British GT championship. In contrast to last years’ race, which has held in monsoon conditions, the 2017 visit to Silverstone was sunny and dry. Now renamed the Silverstone 500, the grid is decided when the best times of the drivers, set in separate sessions, were combined. Seb Morris & Rick Parfitt Jnr would start in 2nd place on the grid, with the Aston Martin of James Littlejohn & Jack Mitchell on pole! The other Team Parker Racing Bentley driven by Callum MacLeod & Ian Loggie was 5th fastest!

The ‘Groundhog’ Mercedes GT3 of Ryan Ratcliffe & Lee Mowle would start in 11th place, but the good news was that 3 of the cars in front of them would have to take pit-stop penalties due to their podium places in the last race at Snetterton!

Ryan commented ’We didn’t get the car sorted the way we like it’ Whilst Ryans’ team-mate Lee Mowle set the slowest time in his session, Ryans’ time was at least respectable, but not fast enough to alter their starting position!

Seb guides The Beast around the Last lap

The Race – Rolling Start. In the 3 hour (180 minutes) race, no driver can drive more than 100 minutes, and the car must make 3 pit-stops. At the start of the race, Rick Parfitt took the lead at Copse Corner and began to draw away from the pack by about 1 second a lap! Rick was really ‘in the zone’ and was really flying, building a 7 second lead in only 7 laps! Meanwhile Ian Loggie, in the 2nd No. 7 Bentley Continental car, was also upholding Team Parker Racing honours, and was harassing Jon Minshaw, the series leader, for all he was worth. Loggie eventually overtook Minshaw, and pulled away! Minshaw seemed to be under a further attack for his 4th place, but then he steadied the ship to run in 4th place. However Team Parker decided to make their driver change pit-stops early, which allowed Jon Minshaw and the ‘Demon Tweeks’ Lamborghini Hurrican to take the lead! A hot and sweaty Rick Parfitt Jnr expressed his satisfaction. ‘At the start, I tried to inch Jon onto the dirtier side of the track! I then drove as hard as I could. Not bad for singer’ However once the pit-stops had all been done, Seb had a 45 second lead from James Littlejohn in the Aston Martin. Team Parker decided the time had come for their 2nd stop and brought Seb and the number 31 Bentley Continental in, to hand back to Rick Parfitt! Rick emerged into 9th place initially. Meanwhile Callum MacLeod had moved into 2nd place and went on to set the races fastest lap in the process! However Ryan Ratcliffe and Lee Mowle remained stranded in 11th place, last of the GT3 runners, although they managed to rise to finish in 8th place. However it was the battle for lead that held the attention as the Team Parker Racing Bentleys moved up and down the order! However Team Parker made their killer move and did a final driver change, to put Seb back in the car for the final stint to the Chequered Flag! As the rest the leaders also made their pit-stops, Seb in the no.31 Bentley emerged with a 50 second lead, over the Littlejohn & Mitchell Aston Martin, which he extended to over 1 minute, at the end. As the race entered its final stage, the only thing that might wreck the Team Parker masterplan was a safety car period! Unfortunately almost on cue, Ian Loggie, lost control of the no.7 Bentley at Copse Corner and spun off backwards, skipping over the gravel trap and eventually making a fairly heavy contact with the tyre wall! Ian seemed ok, which could not be said of the car! However the vastly experienced Silverstone marshals were on hand and dragged the Bentley out of the way, with their specialist JCB! All this was done with a minimum of fuss and the prospect of a safety car period disappeared! All that then remained was for Seb to bring the car, affectionately known as ‘The Beast’, home! The Team Parker pits filled up with team personnel, friends and family! Sat in front of a huge bank of monitors, Sebs team-mate Rick, was watching the TV feed through his fingers, as Seb reeled off the remaining the minutes! Stuart Parker, Team Principal at Team Parker Racing calmly talked Seb through to the flag! However probably the calmest person in TPR was Seb himself and as he guided the Bentley around the final corners towards the chequered flag, the garage exploded into cheering, clapping and whopping, as Rick and the Team Parker Mechanics stormed the pit lane fencing, to cheer him home! (Late in the race Jon Minshaw had to do a Drive Thru, which dropped them to finish in 4th place overall)

So Seb brought the Bentley to rest in P1, underneath the podium, and there was time for celebration between Seb & Rick, TPR team personnel and family. (Sebs dad Phillip, was wearing the most enormous grin!), before the two drivers ascended to the podium to collect the British GT trophies, and also the special RAC Trophy that was last awarded for a 500-mile race at Brooklands on 24 September 1932, and the usual celebratory champagne!

Later, at the winners press conference ,Seb & Rick confirmed the special Team Parker Racing tactics that helped them to win a famous victory. Rick confirmed ‘We had a long sit down and decided we’d try and box as clever as we could, to run the car really light and do shorter stints.’ Seb said ‘When Rick told me the strategy he was thinking of, I thought it was really good work. Obviously we were saving about 70 kilos by not filling the car with a full fuel load, and doing long stints. We calculated that by doing shorter stints it was better than that, so that’s what we did!’ A clearly emotional Rick Parfitt Jnr also confirmed that he wanted to dedicate his win to his late father, Rick Parfitt, who died suddenly last Christmas. ‘He came to see me this time last year, and I’m sure if he have been able to come this year to see this, he would have loved it. Its a real shame he’s not with us, but I’m sure he’s looking down, and I hope he’s real proud!’

The points gained by Rick n Seb have narrowed the gap, and now there is only 4 points between them (115 points) and the points leaders, Minshaw & Keen (119 points). The next rounds in the 2017 British GT Championship are due on 7th & 8th July at the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit, which is among most drivers’ favourite venues!

Ben storms to F3 Victory! In the latest rounds of the 2017 BRDC British F3 Championship, held on the full ‘Grand Prix’ circuit at Silverstone, Ben Hingeley scored his 2nd win of the season, in Sundays’ races. In the first race of the day, Abergele driver Ben Hingeley in his Fortec Racing run car, made a great start from 4th place on the grid to grab the lead at Copse Corner! Ben, who then held the lead throughout the race, drove well to win by over 2 seconds! Afterwards he said ‘I was starting in the middle of it all in fourth place, but I managed to get a great start, that was a real factor in the race win. Getting into first place after the first lap was what I dreamed off really. They came back at me towards the end, and I had to hang on a little, but I’m really happy with it. I’m not sure where I’m starting the next race yet, but after that performance I’ve got strong pace!’ However, in the final race of the day, he was unable to repeat the feat. A clash with firstly, Callum O’Keefe and then Manuel Maldonado, restricted him to 10th place, but it may have been as good as a win, as it demonstrated his fighting qualities!

The points gained has increased his total to 241, which is good enough for 5th place. However he is only 6 points behind the driver in 3rd and only 11 points behind James Pull who is in 2nd place! The championship is led by British driver Enaam Ahmed who has 310 points! The next rounds are due on 7th & 8th July at the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit!

Silverstone preview Welsh Drivers Seb Morris, Ryan Ratcliffe and their team-mates Rick Parfitt and Lee Mowle will be at Silverstone this Sunday for the latest round of the 2017 British GT Championship. This weeks ‘race on the ‘Grand Prix’ course, will be 3 hours long! This is a decent distance for a GT race, on a circuit with the right kind of facilities! Which is a contrast to the Micky Mouse 1 hour races on circuits stuck in the past, that make up part of the series! Currently Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt are 2nd in the 2017 championship, only 25 points the leaders. This is despite the efforts of the organisers, who seem to want to inflict draconian punishments on Morris, for minor discretions! In the latest incident Morris was handed a drive-through penalty, for alleged contact between Morris’ Bentley and a Ferrari at the start! This did not take into account the fact that the other car had 2 wheels in the pit-lane, and therefore had exceeded the track limits!

Ryan Ratcliffe – hoping to get on the podium after a near miss in 2016! (photo by Rob Allender)

This was inconsistent bearing in mind that after Ryan & Lee had finished seventh on the road, they had five seconds added to the ‘Groundhog’ Mercedes-AMG race time for track limits violations, which dropped them behind the Ferrari that hit Morris’ Bentley!

Another of the series mind-boggling aspects, is the pit-stop procedure! It is accepted endurance racing practice, that the mechanics can only change tyres after the car has been loaded with fuel! The car is then normally free to drive away! However in the British series, the car must remain stationary for at least 30 seconds, plus any relevant success penalty! In the 1st Snetterton race Seb & Rick had a 30 second time penalty applied which dropped them to seventh in the final classification after the mid-race driver change pit-stop was deemed to have been completed a miniscule 0.1 seconds too fast!

The organisers also conspired to bungle the race at Rockingham, denying Seb & Rick the proper chance to toast their race win! Not withstanding all these problems Seb is confident of a good result

“We’re a lot stronger around Silverstone than we were at Snetterton, so we’re aiming to be back where we should be, in the fight for the podium, and hopefully we’ll be in a position to try and challenge for the win”, said Morris.

“The longer races do tend to suit us more and Silverstone is a track where the Bentley can really come into its own, so we’re going there feeling much more confident than we were at Snetterton. We always knew that would be a tough weekend but the Team Parker guys did a fantastic job with the car and we came away with decent points. We’re aiming much higher for Silverstone.”

Opening free practice at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit will take place on Saturday, 10th June, at 09.30 with the second session following at 12.25 ahead of the all-important qualifying period for round six which gets underway at 16.05.

On Sunday, 11th June, the brief 10-minute warm-up starts at 10.05 with the big race – which will be screened live in the UK on free-to-air channel Front Runner – scheduled to commence at 13.35.

Ben Hingley current;y 3rd! (photo by Rob Allender)

Ben Hingley from Abergele will be at Silverstone too for the next 3 races in the 2017 BRDC F3 Championship, and he will be looking add to more wins to his debut win for the Fortec team at Rockingham. Ben is curently 3rd in the championship, only 1o points behind American driver Cameron Das, who is in 2nd place

Silverstone 500 winners to be awarded 1932 ‘RAC Trophy’

The overall winning drivers of British GT’s blue riband Silverstone 500 race will lift a historical piece of silverware next weekend (June 10/11) following the unveiling of the event’s new standalone trophy.

British GT organisers announced the prize at the end of 2016 and have since worked closely with Silverstone’s owners, the British Racing Drivers’ Club, to identify a suitably significant piece of silverware. Its archive contains many such examples but, together, the BRDC and SRO Motorsports Group have selected the ‘RAC Trophy’ that was previously awarded for a 500-mile race at Brooklands on 24 September 1932.

Back then it was common practice for prominent sporting bodies and organisations to sponsor individual awards. The Royal Automobile Club was no exception and presented its cup to BRDC Member William Alexander Cuthbert and his co-driver Cecil Wingfield Fiennes who finished fourth in 1932’s race driving a Riley 1100.

Almost a century ago the ‘500’ was considered one of the BRDC’s and Brooklands’ showpiece events. Indeed, Motor Sport Magazine’s season review, taken from its December 1932 issue, described it as “one of the finest races staged at Brooklands in years,” and “The ‘500’ added still further to its reputation as the finest race of the year at Brooklands.”

But when the circuit was requisitioned on the eve of WWII and subsequently sold in 1946, so the Club’s attention switched to another RAF base: Silverstone.

British GT has staged its own version of the ‘500’ there since 2012, which The Home Of British Motor Racing is now keen to formally recognise as a flagship event in its annual calendar. As such, this year’s race weekend will feature a prominent ‘Supercar Sunday’ display as well as family entertainment, open paddock, free grandstand access and pit walk.

Benjamin Franassovici, British GT Championship Manager: “The Silverstone 500 has gathered momentum since we first staged the race in 2012 and is very much seen as our season’s blue riband event. We were keen to further emphasise this by awarding a historically significant trophy to the overall winners and, thanks to the BRDC’s efforts, will be doing so for the first time this year. The trophy is stunning and a wonderful way of aligning our season’s biggest race with a genuine piece of British motorsport history. Whoever wins it can be mightily proud to see their name engraved on its silver and mahogany base.”

Adult tickets for next weekend’s Silverstone 500 start at just £12 while children aged 15 and under can attend for free all weekend. Visit www.silverstone.co.uk/events/british-gt-championship/ for more information.

It was a hard weekend for Welsh drivers Seb Morris, Ryan Ratcliffe Ben Hingley at Snetterton this weekend in the latest races in The 2017 Brdc F3 & British GT Championship.

Ben from Abergele, who was a winner last time out in The British F3 Championship but could only manage a set of minor places with a 5th, a 4th, and 7th places in the 3 races over the weekend. The only consolation was that he was the leading Fortec runner on each occasion! https://www.facebook.com/BenHingeley/ http://www.britishf3.com/

The British GT Championship Snetterton does not have a pit-lane large enough to cope with re-fuelling and driver changes, there will be two 1 hour race for Seb and Ryan and their teammates.

In common with the Pro/Am format of the championship, the AM drivers, Rick Parfitt and Lee Mowle will start race 1 before handing over to their teammates, but this is reversed in Race 2!

Team Parker drivers just miss out on second podium of season

Morris pleased to emerge from tough event with consistent points.

Seb Morris declared himself satisfied with two hard-fought points finishes during rounds four and five of the British GT Championship at Snetterton on Sunday, 28th May, after a challenging visit to the Norfolk track delivered a best result of fourth position. Prior to the weekend Seb said That consistent points scoring would be the chief objective and despite some dramas along the way he and team-mate Rick Parfitt Jnr scored enough points to end the weekend still second in the championship.

Qualifying exceeded all expectations for the duo with Snetterton not a favoured track for the Bentley Continental GT3. Parfitt Jnr lapped third fastest in the ‘Am’ session for the round four grid, while Welshman Morris was the fourth quickest of the Pro drivers in the round five session.

After racing to fourth place in the opening one-hour contest, a luckless 30 second time penalty applied post-race dropped the team-mates back to seventh in the final classification –( the mid-race driver change pit-stop deemed to have been completed a miniscule 0.1 seconds too fast!) However this promoted the Groundhog Mercedes of Ryan Ratcliffe & Lee Mowle up to 4th place, their best result with their new car!

Aiming to make amends in race two, Seb made contact off the start between the Bentley and a Ferrari, as the lead contenders jostled for position, which resulted in a drive-through penalty for Morris. Even so, an inspired early driver change, mated to a little bit of good fortune with a Safety Car period soon after, delivered fourth spot for the Team Parker drivers just 0.2 seconds shy of the podium! “The drive-through penalty was unfortunate, I didn’t see Matt [Griffin] was there and it was just one of those racing incidents”, reflected Morris, “We made a good call with the early [driver change] pit-stop, when the Safety Car came out it worked in our favour and Rick did a good job to bring the car home in fourth. He was only 0.2 secs behind so we might have been able to take a podium, but fourth is fine from this weekend!’ Ryan & Lee ended race 2 in 8th place

There are now only two weeks to wait until round six of the British GT season, the 3 hour race, which will take place over the weekend 10th/11th June at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in Northamptonshire.

2017 British GT Championship Driver Standings

1st Jon Minshaw & Phil Keen 101 points

2nd Seb Morris & Rick Parfitt Jnr, 77.5pts

3rd Derek Johnson & Johnny Adam 74 pts

4th Ryan Ratcliffe & Lee Mowle 35 pts

In the interval since the Rockingham win Seb as not been idle, as Andy Meyrick, his friend and Mentor, fixed up drives in a 6 hour race on the classic Nordschleife, the 12.9 mile 124 corner original part of the Nurburgring, and also a race in the ‘Trofeo Lamborghini’ at Silverstone. Seb put up a good performance in his debut on the Nordschleife, moving the BMW up to 3rd place, during his stint, as position his German team-mates held until the end, giving Seb a podium visit on his debut. His performance in the wet practice session at Silverstone in the ‘Trofeo Lamborghini’race, again enhanced his growing reputation as a GT racer!

Andy Meyrick also has not been idle, having scored points with 5th place on his debut with the Motorsport 98 Ligier JS P3 in Michelin Le Mans Cup race at Monza recently. http://andymeyrick.com/news/view/109

After a two-hour race at Rockingham on Sunday 30th April, that will be remembered as a thrilling contest with an uncertain ending ,Rick Parfitt Jnr and Seb Morris, driving the Team Parker Racing Bentley claimed victory in the 3rd round of the 2017 British GT, after a confusing race full of Safety Cars and penalties!

After Qualifying, Rick started the Bentley in 5th place, and Lee Mowle started the Groundhog Mercedes in 6th place! The 2hr mini-enduro race began with the Aston Martin of pole-sitter Derek Johnston retaining the lead from the Lamborghini Hurruican of points leader Jon Minshaw,.

After a brief Safety Car period at the start of lap three, the lead battle quickly developed into a three-horse race, while Farmer dropped back into the clutches of Rick Parfitt Jnr, Cameron, Lee Mowle and Liam Griffin whose poor start saw his Lamborghini plummet from fourth to eighth.

Further back a pivotal moment in the race’s outcome was developing. Cameron’s repeated track limit violations earned his Ferrari a five-second penalty, which was added to his in-race time. That meant the Ferrari 488 GT3 was five seconds further behind on the timing screens than it appeared on track! After the pit-stops it was Mitchell – taking over the Aston Martin from his co-driver Littlejohn – who emerged ahead of Seb Morris whose co-driver Parfitt Jnr gained a place before the stops.

Griffin rejoined fourth but immediately cleared Ryan Ratcliffe’s AMDTuning.com Mercedes-AMG before setting off after Mitchell and Morris. His deficit was eight seconds but such was the Ferrari’s pace that the lead soon became a three-way scrap. The trio ran nose-to-tail for a short while until Seb forced his way into the lead at the final chicane, followed by the Ferrari of Griffin.

Cameron’s five-second penalty was carried over to his team-mate Griffin, who still had to pass Morris and pull away if he wanted to take victory himself! The green Ferrari finally forced his way past Seb by barging him out of the way! This would have repercussions later, meanwhile Seb kept the Ferrari in sight, until the race was interrupted by a bungled third Safety Car period with 24 minutes remaining. The Ferrari was waved passed, with gave him a ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card.

However, although the Ferrari was the first car to take the chequered Flag, the car and drivers were swiftly demoted to 2nd place, giving Team Parker Racing, Parfitt Jnr and Morris the victory and moved them into their rightful position as race winners of round three to secure their first silverware of the new season – also moving them into the championship top two.

“We’re obviously all delighted to have taken the win, especially after how the race ended”, said 21-year-old racer Morris, “The only reason the Ferrari got past was because there was contact, so I’m pleased the officials made the right decision with the penalty. I thoroughly enjoyed it out there, we were competitive and had a very strong race. We seemed to gather more pace towards the end and the Bentley looked after the tyres well. I really got into the swing of things in my stint, had a good battle and produced some good moves. We’re very happy.”

The end to the race was really confusing, none of us knew what was happening when the Ferrari was waved by the Safety Car. It all worked out the right way in the end, though, so we’re happy with the result and looking forward to Snetterton now.”

Ryan Ratcliffe came home sixth in his AMDTuning.com Mercedes-AMG.

A puncture put paid to Ian Loggie and Callum Macleod’s hopes in the second Team Parker Bentley, but they did recover to finish ninth ahead of Team ABBA with Rollcentre Racing’s Richard Neary and Martin Short.

However, while questions were asked about the Safety Car procedure – which was handled correctly by the letter of the regulations – an investigation was immediately launched to establish whether Griffin had gained an unfair advantage by making avoidable contact when passing Morris. There was enough evidence to suggest he had, but with the race run there was no way of allowing the Bentley to re-take the position without imposing a post-race penalty. 26 seconds was therefore applied. Championship Manager Ben Franassovici: “What happened today with the Safety Car procedure was very unfortunate but, given the letter of the regulations, not something we could have controlled. We follow the MSA’s regulations which state the Safety Car must pick up the race leader, which in official timing was not the #21 Spirit of Race Ferrari. Race Control therefore had no choice but to wave it by. Applying in-race time penalties contributed to this but these are the rules by which we and others race under the MSA’s jurisdiction. Today we found an annomally, which will be investigated fully. One way or another there must be changes to avoid this situation from arising again.”

There is now a four week break in the British GT Championship calendar with rounds four and five, which revert to the 60-minute duration format, scheduled to take place over the weekend 27th/28th May at Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk.

BRDC F3. Highlights for Ben. Also due to delays the Saturday’s programme there were 3 races in one day for the Formula 3 runners, including Ben Hingley from Abergele. Ben, driving with the Fortec team, started the first race in 4th place which he defended throughout in an excellent fashion! In race two, initially he was running in 3rd place, but accident with 2 other cars, brought the red flags and meant the race had to be re-stared for a 4 lap sprint to the flag! When the lights changed Hingeley stormed into 2nd place, which he had to defend from 2 other cars, as the leader Ahmed escaped to win. Speaking after the race, Ben said ‘I’m very happy especially as I started 5th, and my steering took a hit, as I was quite involved in the incident at the first corner, but I was struggling to turn right. P2 though, I couldn’t be more happy. It has put us slightly on the back foot for the final race, as I am starting seventh, but I’ve got more points and that is all that matters!’ Team Boss Richard Dutton who gave out the awards said ‘The boy done good!’

After finishing in 7th place in the 3rd race, Ben is in 4th place in the points standings, with 60 points. Enaam Ahmed leads with 95 points.http://www.britishf3.com/

Brit GT – Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt jnr had blitzed the field on Saturday to take Pole Position for both races for the opening rounds of the 2017 British GT Championship at Oulton Park on Easter Monday. Due to the narrow pit lane at Oulton Park the normal endurance format cannot be used, and this means the event takes place over two 1 hour races, with a driver change allowed at between 25 & 35 minutes!) However Ryan Ratcliffe did not have such a happy time after, the Llanelli drivers’ team-mate, Lee Mowle, crashed the car, and damaged the front suspension!

In somewhat typical Bank Holiday weather, Easter Monday in the Oulton Park area dawned overcast with some heavy drizzle! There was a warm-up session and then two 1 hour races for the British GT runners. However Lee Mowle went someway to save the day for the Groundhog team by posting a quick time in the damp warm-up session!

British GT – RACE 1 – track wet

As the cars crossed the start-line the Lamborghini Hurrican of John Minshaw took an immediate lead and drew away from Rick who stablised the Bentley Continental GT3 in a steady 2nd place! Meanwhile Lee Mowle was on the move in the 6.3 litre Mercedes! However it almost came to an end when he got on to the grass and hit the barriers again, but got going again at the tail of the field. After 30 minutes, Rick came in for a late pit-stop to hand over to Seb, who had an immediate fight on his hands and dropped to 4th place. Late in the race Seb managed to latch onto the 3rd place Aston Martin of Johnny Adam. In a classic duel Seb closed in under braking, only for Adam to pull away on the straights and was only .5 of second behind at the end! ‘We don’t have any wet weather traction so I didn’t really didn’t really have a chance. Even so 4th isn’t so bad, as we don’t have any success penalty to serve in race 2!’ Ryan Ratcliffe managed to get his Mercedes back up to 10th, to score a single point. ‘The team told me to take it as test session so we could try some things. I was on the radio, every lap ‘I’ve got a lot of understeer. When I got back to the pits I could see the splitter was on the floor! I’ll enjoy

driving a car that’s not damaged’

Brit GT Race 2 – track – drying. With Seb on board it was strange to see him beaten off the line and he was 3rd after the first lap. Things got a little strange as both TPR Bentleys’ got together, with the no7 car spinning off! The stewards decided to look at the incident, but whilst that was happening, Seb, in the ‘31’ car, took 2nd place after a muscular move! But he was then handed a ‘Drive through’ penalty, rejoining the race in 7th place. Ryan Ratcliffe, in the AMD Mercedes, was making good progress. Some press on driving and a late race problem for one of the leaders, moved Seb n Rick up to 5th and Ryan n Lee up to 7th both handily placed for a run to the end in prospect. However the race ended after only 55 minutes under safety car, after a major collision between several cars, left the track littered with debris & cars. Post-race action from the stewards, pinned the blame on the No 7 Bentley, which was being driven by Ian Loggie, and the car was excluded from the results! The points after the 2 races show Seb & Rick in 4th place overall with 22 points and Ryan & Lee have 7 points! Minshaw & Keen (Lamborghini Hurrican) lead with 50 points! The next races in the Brit GT & F3 package is at Rockingham on

Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt jnr blitzed the field to take Pole Position for both races for the opening rounds of the 2017 British GT Championship at Oulton Park on Easter Monday. Due to the narrow pit lane at Oulton Park the normal endurance format cannot be used, and this means the event takes place over two 1 hour races, with a driver change allowed at between 25 & 35 minutes! Qualifing was split into two 10 minute sessions and Rick took pole position for Race 1 on his final lap. ‘It was a real banzia lap’! Seb dominated his session and banged in a quick time of 1.32.93 secs. No-one else was able to match his time, and so the Bentley duo will lead off the grid in both Mondays races! (The second TPR Bentley run by Welsh leg-end Jules Westwood, were not so lucky) However Ryan Ratcliffe did not have such a happy time after the Llanelli drivers’ team-mate crashed the car, and damaged the front suspension! ‘I did what I could but the car was almost too difficult to drive’

On Easter Monday there will be a warm-up session and then two 1 hour races for the British GT runners. However due to delays in the programme there will be 3 races in one day for the Formula 3 runners, including Ben Hingley from Abergele.

Seb & Rick – team-mates again for 2017!

The GT Season starts with even more Welsh drivers joining in! The 2017 Britsh GT season starts at Oulton Park on Easter Monday when Seb Morris & Rick Parfitt Jnr will return as team-mates in the Bentley Continental GP3 car run by Team Parker Racing, ready to make a even bigger challenge for top honours, after finishing in 3rd overall in their debut season! Known to the drivers as ‘The Beast’ there has been input from Bentley aimed at improving the car, to make it even more competitive! Joining the team as title sponsors are Ast Transport Branding with Eddie Stobart confirmed as providing key logistical support, the two new partners feature prominently on the car’s striking new green and white colour scheme.

Additionally, Saxon Air is confirmed as a new partner while existing backers Venu and Liberty Properties Plc return to support Morris’ British GT Championship bid. Parfitt Jnr, meanwhile, brings backing from Geoffrey Insurance, EG Solutions, Aggreko and Flat Pack Direct among others.

Seb said, ‘I know everyone at the team, Rick and I are determined to bring some big results back for all of our amazing sponsors.”

Since the end of the 2016 season, Seb has had a spectacular debut in the Daytona 24hr race, and although sadly Ricks dad died, he himself has been able to make sure he has more time to devote to racing by making sure races do not clash with concerts with his own rock band!

Speaking on behalf of headline commercial partner Ast Transport Branding, Managing Director Mark Aston said: “This is a fantastic opportunity and we’re excited to be working with Seb and Rick for 2017.” Saxonair will also sponsor Seb on a personal basis. Saxon Air is a private air travel company which operates from bases throughout Europe covering both Helicopter and Aircraft operations at London Luton, London Stansted, Norwich and Cambridge. Team Parker Racing principal Stuart Parker said: “Having Seb and Rick back in the car for the 2017 season is fantastic news for all at Team Parker. The whole team is motivated to get better than in 2016, having continuity is paramount in what is going to be the hardest fought British GT Championship for years. The relationship with M-Sport and Bentley has blossomed and we look forward to representing them again this year.”

Joining Seb on the Britsh GT package is Ben Hingley from Abergele who will contest The BRDC F3 Championship with Fortec, the top F3 team run by Richard Dutton who has a long & happy history of success with Welsh drivers, including Seb Morris himself!

Matt wants some more Silverware

One of Sebs contemporaries Matthew Parry from Cardiff is also moving into GT racing and will take part in the 2017 Blacpain GT3 championship with Bob Nevilles RJN Motul Nissan Nismo GTR GT3 car! havng agreed a deal to pilot RJN Motorsport’s #22 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and will partner Jersey’s Struan Moore and Australia’s Matt Simmons in all five Blancpain endurance rounds this season. (RJN is run by our friend Bob Neville) Matt makes the switch from single-seaters having reached the heights of GP3, standing atop the podium in 2016 and posting top ten championship finishes in each of his campaigns. Parry’s open-wheel career also includes titles in both Formula BMW and Formula Renault, leading to his achievements being recognised with the 25th McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, where he got his first taste of GT machinery during the assessment process. Despite having focused on single-seaters since graduating from an ultra-successful karting career, Parry insists that he will have no trouble adapting to the very different sportscar arena.

“After racing in GP3 for two years, we evaluated our options over the winter and, while there were opportunities to continue in single-seaters, the chance to link up with a team like RJN and run in a championship-winning car like the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 was too good to pass up,” Parry explained, “I already had a taste for GTs following the McLaren Autosport BRDC assessment, and getting the chance to test different cars in the last few months convinced me that it was the right time to make the step over to sportscars – and endurance racing in particular. That was a big attraction of this deal as endurance racing is one of the few things missing from my CV, and I’m really looking forward to testing myself in the cauldron of Blancpain competition.” http://www.mattparryracing.co.uk/LatestNews.aspx?ArticleId=176 (RJN also ran fellow Cardiff racer Jann Mardenborough in 2010 so Matt is in good company.)

Andy Meyrick gets to drive in 2017!

Backing up Matt & Seb is Andy Meyrick, and in addition to his MSA duties, Andy will actually be racing himself in 2017! He will be driving a McLaren 570S with Bullitt Racing in the GT4 European Series Northern Cup in 2017, with his new teammate Stephen Pattrick.

Andy said: “I’ve been keeping a very close eye on GT4 for the last couple of years now, I really admire the racing and the close competition.The team is well organised and I’m sure will be competitive very quickly, this was a key part of my decision to take the role. ed by David Price, the team has a great opportunity to challenge at the front of the pack this year. I’m excited to be a part of GT4”.

Team principal David Price said: “We were looking for an experienced GT racer to lead our team and take the fight to straight to the front, Andy is perfect for the role. We are delighted to have him onboard”. http://gt4series.com/ NORTHERN CUP CALENDAR 2017, 2 April Misano, Italy, 7 May Brands Hatch, 11 June Red Bull Ring, Austria, 16 July, Slovakia Ring, 20 August Zandvoort, Holland, 17 September Nürburgring, Germany

Andy said: “I’m really excited about working with Motorsport 98, who are a really well established race team, and it’s great to get behind the wheel of the Ligier JS P3 in the LM P3 series. Alongside my current drive in the GT4 series, I’m looking forward to varied challenges within the 2017 race calendar. The Michelin Le Mans Cup is the perfect stepping stone towards the European Le Mans and World Endurance Championships for the team, and having previously finished 4th place overall in 2010 Le Mans, it will be fantastic to be racing there once again.” The Michelin Le Mans Cup action kicks off on 13th May at Monza, by which time its hoped that Andys cowl and cape will arrive for his first drive in the Liger ‘Batmobile’!

Also Rory Collimgbourne, from Newport, Gwent, has signed a deal to contest the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia with top team Leipert Motorsport.

The 19-year-old, from Newport in Wales, has competed in the Renault UK Clio Cup for the past two seasons but is now setting out on a path into the world of GT endurance racing in the prestigious one-make Lamborghini category as team-mate to Australia’s Ben Gersekowski.

“Very exciting times are ahead”, said an elated Collingbourne, “This year is going to be a big challenge, but one I am more than willing to take on! Turning professional at 19-years-old isn’t what a lot of people my age achieve, especially racing on the opposite side of the world.

“Driving for Leipert Motorsport has definitely given me the best chance to compete at the sharp end in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia, it’s a world class team with proven results. This is just the start for what we have planned for the future and Veloce Sports (who are run by Rupert Sevensden-Cook) have been a massive help – it’s a world class management team and I can’t wait to represent them as a driver.” Rory will do well to match the success of Jake Rattenbury, who became the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Champion in 1985

Over the edge with Andy! Race Ace Andy Meyrick, originally from Swansea but now living in Cheshire, is set to do a 240ft abseil, after he joined Team Humphrey as the newest Patron of Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity. Andy comments: “I’ve seen first-hand the incredible work the hospital does and how the Charity works hard to support the hospital which is why I’m really excited and honoured to become an official patron. I know how much the hospital means to so many families across the North West who have needed to use its services, and for that reason I couldn’t think of a better local charity to support. I’m excited to be able to give something back to my local community who have always been so very supportive of me”

Andy has already signed up for his first challenge, a 240ft abseil over the edge of Liberty Heights in Manchester City Centre to help raise funds in support of the Children’s Hospital.

Andy adds: “Although I’m used to extreme sports I’ve never taking part in an abseil before and let’s put it this way, it won’t be the easiest of challenges for me! I’m sure my stomach will be turning when I’m at the very top but knowing it is raising money for such a good cause, and to help poorly children and the hospital will spur me on!

Sarah Naismith, Head of Charities at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity commented: “. I’m delighted that Andy has pledged his support and we look forward to working with him more in the future.”